


Pretty Boy Across the Hall

by shinusual



Category: K-pop, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Fluff and Angst, M/M, boy next door
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:38:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 94,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinusual/pseuds/shinusual
Summary: Jihoon's just a normal guy, who gets really tired and frustrated easily. But he definitely gets flustered even more easily, and the new boy moving in across the hall does NOT help with that.





	1. You Okay?

**Author's Note:**

> So I originally posted this on asianfanfics and I decided to bring it to ao3 too :) http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1016850/pretty-boy-across-the-hall-angst-seventeen-meanie-jihan-jicheol-scoups-woozi
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

“What do you mean you’re not home?!” Jihoon screamed into his phone receiver as he got out of the cab.

 _“I forgot to turn in my paper and Mr. Kim’s making me come in to hand it to him,”_ Soonyoung replied from the other end. _“Sorry, Jihoon, but you can’t keep forgetting your key like this!”_

Jihoon groaned as he punched in the building entrance code. As the main door opened, he headed inside towards the elevator. “What’s the point of having roommates if they’re not here to open my doors?” he complained, waiting with an irritated look on his face.

 _“You make me feel so special,”_ Soonyoung said, sarcastically.

Stroking his hair back as he waited for the elevator, Jihoon sighed and loosened up a bit. “I know, yeah. Sorry, I’m just tired. I called Mingyu, too, and he didn’t pick up. We still have the spare on top of the door frame, right?”

_“You can check, but I think Mingyu took it in the other day.”_

With a _ding_ , the doors opened and he stepped inside. “Great.”

_“Look, I’ll be home before you know it. Or Mingyu will. Just wait a little.”_

Jihoon closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting it rest against the wall as he moved upwards. “Thanks, hyung.”

_“See you later.”_

“Bye.” Without moving anything but his hand, Jihoon hung up the phone and just stood there as he passed floor after floor.

On all accounts, you could say Jihoon was just your average teenager, trying to get by with his grades and living it up with a couple of friends at his university. Nothing too special. But then again, that would depend on who you asked. To Soonyoung and Mingyu, he was the roommate who never woke up on time and always forgot his things at home. To Junhui, he was the loyal friend who helped him with Korean customer service calls. To Wonwoo, he was the classmate that always had his homework done but could never stay awake in class. And to Seungkwan, he was the guy who always bought the same coffee from his shop every single morning. People knew him in different forms, but to him, he was always the same Jihoon. Nothing too special.

When the doors finally opened on the ninth floor, Jihoon shook himself as he widened his eyes and walked out, turning right and heading for his apartment. “Please be there,” he muttered to himself. After hours of just sitting and studying in the library, he needed to take a nap, or lie down, or just do something that wasn’t so draining. After rushing by several doors and making all the necessary turns, he made it to his place, apartment 917B. “Please be there,” he repeated under his breath as he quickly reached up towards the upper door frame. He had to jump a little to feel it before realizing that he was officially locked out. “Damn it!”

Completely frustrated, he groaned and slammed his back into the door, sliding down to rest on the ground. Jihoon definitely had a temper, but he was way too tired to do anything too extreme at that point. Instead, he just rested there, moping to himself, with his face in his hands, until his moment of silence was interrupted. “You okay, there?”

Jihoon’s head shot up at the unfamiliar, calming voice. But as he looked up, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He was too startled to make any sort of complete sentence. “Uhh...umm...uh…”

In front of him stood a gorgeous boy. Aside from his voice, his big, happy eyes were the first things that Jihoon noticed. They were smiling down at him along with his soft, perky lips that glistened just a little. It wasn’t until after noticing the shininess of his mouth did Jihoon realize the boy was sweating and hugging a giant cardboard box. His gleaming arms wrapped around it flexed, showing off the more-than-slight muscle on each. Unfortunately, Jihoon couldn’t help but just continue to stare at the beautiful creature that appeared before him.

So he repeated himself. “You okay?” he asked again, this time with a slight chuckle.

His mouth gaping open, Jihoon shook himself and turned his head down as he felt his heart start to beat incredibly fast. “Uhhh!” He wasn’t sure if it was the panic from talking to a cute stranger or just the embarrassment from staring at said stranger that made him so nervous. Either way, he sprang to his feet, finding it very hard to keep his balance. Still staring at the ground, he nodded his head and placed a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it anxiously. “Yeah! I’m fine,” he quickly replied.

“Good,” the boy laughed. “You looked a little down just now.”

Hearing that sweet voice again made Jihoon tilt his eyes up, this time slightly more prepared for how attractive this person was. Seeing that smile made him ease up a little. “Thanks. No, it’s just I got locked out of my apartment,” Jihoon replied, pointing back at his door.

“Oh, cool!” he exclaimed, smiling even bigger and throwing Jihoon off. He quickly explained, “I mean, not cool that you’re locked out, but cool that you live there. I just moved here.”

“Oh,” Jihoon uttered. Before, he was in too much of a hurry to notice that the door across the hall from him was wide open. From what he could see, the room was completely empty except for all the boxes near the front.

The boy grinned and bowed his head down slightly. “I’m Seungcheol.”

Jihoon finally smiled back and bowed, too. “Nice to meet you.” It may have sounded calm in his tone, but the name “Seungcheol” bounced in Jihoon’s head, as if it were...excited. But he had no idea why. As he tried to figure out what he was feeling, he just kept smiling and staring at Seungcheol, getting to notice the rest of his features, such as his messy hair or his towering height. Suddenly, he wasn’t so tired anymore.

Seungcheol raised his eyebrow and leaned forward. “And you are…?”

“OH!” Jihoon sputtered. “Uh, sorry! Jihoon! Uh, I’m—” he took a second to catch himself. “Jihoon. I’m Jihoon.” His face started to heat up as he thought of how stupid he must be coming off.

But Seungcheol just laughed. “Nice to meet you, Jihoon.” He gently placed the box down as he pushed it inside. He dusted off his arms before addressing his new neighbor again. "So you're locked out?"

Jihoon pursed his lips, still lost in the way Seungcheol just said his name. "Yeah...I forgot my key...and…” He took a second and just shook his head, pulling back his hair as he sighed. “Sorry, I’m just...I didn’t mean to bother you while you were moving.”

“Oh, no, you’re not bothering me!” Seungcheol corrected. “Here, you should come in.”

Surprised, Jihoon looked up at him and stuttered, “What?! No—I mean—It’s okay—Um, I’m totally—”

But Seungcheol’s laughing shut him up. “No, seriously, you should come in. You’d be my first guest.”

Apprehensively, Jihoon raised his eyebrows at him. “You sure?”

But Seungcheol just smiled at him, making Jihoon feel his stomach turn. “I don’t bite,” he teased, stepping aside and gesturing through the door.

After one last glance at Seungcheol’s cute stare, Jihoon slowly walked into apartment 917A, lowering his head and hugging his arms. “Thanks,” he mumbled into his chest, desperately trying to hide his pleased grin.


	2. Please, Come In

As he stepped in, Seungcheol just kept staring at him, smiling at his adorable posture and more than slightly flustered demeanor, definitely Seungcheol’s type. “This day keeps getting better and better,” he thought to himself. Not only was he moving into a better place that was closer to his school, but he had found a cute boy just sitting there, basically waiting for him at his doorstep. The second he saw Jihoon, Seungcheol stopped in his tracks when he noticed his fluffy, pink hair and oddly attractive hands. What hid behind them was even more pleasant. Seungcheol couldn’t wipe that shocked look on Jihoon’s face out of his head and those dimples that showed up when he subtly smiled. It made his chest leap and his lips tingle, even if on the outside he just stood and laughed. It was times like these that Seungcheol thanked the universe for gifting him with the incredible talent of flawless icebreaking. Not only did it snag him the opportunity to talk to this charming boy-next-door, but it gave him the courage to invite him in.

And as Jihoon made it to the center of the room, Seungcheol watched as he scanned his surroundings, looking up and around. Seungcheol closed the door behind him as Jihoon said, “Nice place.”

Turning his attention back to the now-more-comfortable-looking boy, Seungcheol wiped his hands on his jeans as he moved closer. “Yeah, it’s a huge step up from where I was staying before. My friend, Jeonghan, and I found it a few weeks ago and he fell in love with the space.” Stopping right next to him, Seungcheol shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “But to be honest, what sold me was the apartment number.”

Jihoon, noticing how close they were, stepped back a little, blushing ever so slightly, which made Seungcheol smile even more. He looked away and asked, “What? 917?”

“17,” Seungcheol clarified, getting a good look at Jihoon’s nice physique. That oversized sweatshirt he was wearing made him look sweeter than any teddy bear you would ever find. But for some strange reason, Seungcheol could sense there was something hidden behind all this cuteness, something...tougher? More rigid? Scarier? He had no idea what that feeling was, but it made Jihoon even more intriguing. “It’s my lucky number.”

“Really?” Jihoon chimed, spinning back around. He chuckled and crossed his arms. “Funny, that’s my lucky number, too.”

Seungcheol beamed at him and slowly walked backwards. “Then I guess it was meant to be.”

Expecting the boy to get all flustered, Seungcheol was surprised when Jihoon just choked on his laughs and he buried his hands into his pockets. “You’re very straightforward, aren’t you Seungcheol?”

Now it was Seungcheol’s turn to blush. Hearing Jihoon say his name made him tingle and stop in his tracks. “Uhhhh…”

But Jihoon just laughed and loosened his arms, clearly pleased that the ball was now in his court. “It’s a nice quality.”

Seungcheol grinned and shook his head as he headed towards the kitchen fridge. “Sorry there’s no real place to sit or anything. Do you want something to drink?”

Jihoon replied, “Thanks, but no, I’m only 18…”

“Oh, I didn’t mean alcohol,” Seungcheol interjected, his head in the refrigerator. “Don’t worry, I’m only 20 so no drinking for me either. I mean do you want any water or anything?”

“Uhh, yeah water would be good,” Jihoon said, cautiously sitting down on the hardwood floor, leaning his back against the far wall. “Thanks.”

“No problem. So you’re 18? You going to school?” Seungcheol asked, making his way back over with two water bottles. But he nearly dropped them upon seeing Jihoon just patiently waiting for him, like a shy puppy at a shelter. His nervousness was irresistible.

Jihoon meekly smiled as Seungcheol sat down next to him, taking the bottle from him without making eye contact. “Yeah, I go to the university just a few blocks from here.”

“Cool. Do you know your major yet?” Seungcheol asked, opening his bottle and taking a sip.

But Jihoon couldn’t focus on anything other than this person who just randomly let him into his home. Normally, Jihoon’s sour mood would prevent him from wanting to interact with anyone, but this charming stranger made it too easy for him to get nervous and embarrassed that he couldn’t say no. Weirdly enough, he didn’t _want_ to say no. “No, I’m still undecided. There are so many things I want to try, I’m just not sure where I belong yet.”

Seungcheol smiled as he stared at the side of Jihoon’s face, a benefit from the boy refusing to look back at him. “Good for you. Explore different things while you can.”

“What about you?” Jihoon asked, turning back to finally face Seungcheol. “You in school right now?”

Unfortunately, Seungcheol only sometimes came off as smooth, since the eye contact was too much for him to handle, automatically forcing him to look away. “Uhh, yeah!” he quickly answered. “I go to the same university. I’ve been going for a couple of years now.”

“Really? Just goes to show how big that campus is. I’ve never seen you before today.”

“Same here,” Seungcheol agreed, feeling his heart warm up. “Because I sure would remember if I’d seen you before.” He smirked and chuckled a bit before pulling the courage to glance over into Jihoon’s eyes. His delicate, gleaming eyes. For a second, neither of them turned away, even though Jihoon’s face slowly got pinker. His heart was beating rapidly while Seungcheol’s was losing control. There was a weird...sensation that both of them experienced. And for a moment, neither of them could unlock from that trance, until Seungcheol managed to crack a smile through his excitement.

Making Jihoon do the same. His eyes curved into little half-moons as he laughed. “I thought you were gonna say you would never forget my hair.”

Seungcheol chuckled and scooched closer to him. “We live in Korea! _Anyone_ could have that hair!”

For the next hour or so, both of them just sat on the floor together and talked, learning the basic information about each other. Seungcheol told Jihoon about how difficult it used to be to get to his classes on time since he lived so far away. Jihoon explained to Seungcheol how he managed to always forget his key at home. Seungcheol talked about how passionate he could be over something and how he valued loyalty when it came to friendships. Jihoon spoke to Seungcheol of how easy it was for him to get lost in whatever he was working on and how stubborn he could be sometimes.

As they just talked and talked, Seungcheol’s smile never left his face. Something about Jihoon’s voice made his heart just run away from him. And his glowing excitement made the rest of his body ache with satisfaction. Something about this kid was just so comforting and...special, it almost felt like. And Seungcheol hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

Jihoon had never been smooth when it came to first encounters, but this by far was his most successful. He was engaged, he was cheerful, he wasn’t just a nervous wreck. Even though he was in the beginning, Seungcheol made him feel at ease. And everytime he was able to throw Seungcheol off his game, getting him to stumble on his words or flush a shade of red, it made his insides dance as his stomach filled with butterflies.

And both of them had this strange awareness, even if they didn’t think the other felt it, that this was not just an introduction to a new friend. No, this could possibly be more. That thought ringing in his mind made Seungcheol feel weightless, as if he was floating. For Jihoon, it was a lot scarier, almost as if he was falling. But as we all know, there’s a certain rush that comes with the drop.

“Yeah, my friend Seungkwan works at the coffee shop right downstairs,” Seungcheol said, fiddling with the wrapper on his finished water bottle. Even though he was done with it forty-five minutes ago and dying for another one, he couldn’t pull himself to leave Jihoon’s side even for a second.

“Hey, I know Seungkwan!” Jihoon exclaimed, looking over at Seungcheol. For a while, he had noticed the tall boy inching closer to him and, oddly enough, he didn’t try to move away. By now, their arms were practically rubbing against each other. His skin was still damp from the sweat of his labor, making Jihoon quiver. “Yeah, I go there...every morning actually. I’m pretty sure he knows my order by now.”

Seungcheol laughed and tilted his head back, letting it rest against the wall. He stretched out his legs and reached his arms forward. “It’s crazy that I haven’t run into you before. But I guess I’m only there in the evenings.”

“I wonder how many times we’ve almost crossed paths,” Jihoon chuckled, letting his chin sink to his chest.

Seungcheol chuckled and gave Jihoon a sly look. “Probably not too many, because if we have…”

“I know, I know,” Jihoon jokingly interrupted. “You would’ve remembered me.” He smiled fondly at Seungcheol, their noses just inches away from each other. He could feel Seungcheol’s breath against his skin as he teased, “I get it, Seungcheol.”

For a second, Seungcheol just stared into Jihoon’s gorgeous, dark eyes, fondly admiring how bright they shone as he smiled. Gradually, his glance slipped down to his lips. Seungcheol had to shake himself to get away from any irrational ideas. Trying to regain his composure, he cleared his throat and laughed. “Glad to know you’re catching on.”

They both laughed, but Seungcheol really meant it. As they were getting to know each other, Jihoon became incredibly more comfortable, slipping in such composed and smooth responses every so often. It pleasantly surprised them both.

“So, Jihoon-ah,” Seungcheol began, smiling down at his lap.

“Mm.” The “-ah” added to his name made a chill run down Jihoon’s spine, as if Seungcheol had just stroked his back.

Seungcheol took in a deep breath and turned back to smile at him. He was met with an equally affectionate grin, making him laugh. “Do you think…,” he nervously started, “...maybe...that you would ever...want to go there...with me?”

Jihoon’s eyes grew wide again, just like they did when they first met a few hours ago, but it was quickly paired with a giant smile. As if trying to find the right words, Jihoon just sat there with his mouth gaping open.

Seungcheol’s heart was racing, waiting for a response, uncertain if this was the right move so early. He was never this forward, even though Jihoon thought he was. This was actually only his second time asking someone out and he was starting to regret it. But Jihoon’s cute expression made it impossible to regret. But before he could say anything…

“SEUNGCHEOL! I’M HOME!”

Immediately, Seungcheol and Jihoon snapped to face forward, sadly turning away from each other. At the front door was another tall boy, this time with longer hair, who was too busy looking at all the boxes to notice that Seungcheol wasn’t alone. “Seungcheol! I thought you said you were gonna move these to the right—” But as soon as he looked up, he jumped a little. “OH! Sorry! Uh, I didn’t know...Seungcheol, why didn’t you tell me we had company?”

Seungcheol closed his eyes and sighed as Jihoon just stared, completely dumbfounded. Not because of this person’s unexpected entrance, but more of how he was going to respond to Seungcheol’s question. Seungcheol slowly got up as he groaned, “Sorry, Jeonghan. This wasn’t really planned.” He turned and shyly grinned at Jihoon, apologetic that they were interrupted. “This is Jeonghan, my roommate.”

Jihoon followed his lead and stood up as well, coming back to reality and putting on a smile. “Nice to meet you. I’m Jihoon. Sorry, yeah I live across the hall.”

“Oh, nice,” Jeonghan nodded. “Nice to meet you. You live in 917B?”

“Yup, that’s me.”

Jeonghan stepped in and threw his backpack on the counter. “Cool, I think I just ran into your roommate. Mingyu, right? Yeah, he just got home.”

“Oh,” Jihoon replied, softly, “I guess that means I’m not locked out anymore.” He looked over at Seungcheol and tried to grin, but was actually really disappointed that he no longer had an excuse to stay over.

But Seungcheol made no effort to hide that disappointment. He frowned and lowered his head. “Right.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Jihoon said to Jeonghan as he waved and headed for the door.

“You too!” Jeonghan smiled back.

As Jihoon went to the door, Seungcheol followed behind. “I’ll walk you out.”

Jihoon chuckled and glanced back at him as he opened the door. “You realize I live about five feet away.”

Weakly smiling, Seungcheol stepped into the hall with him and shut the door behind. “Thankfully.”

Jihoon smiled up as they stood face to face. “So, about what you were asking…”

“Right,” Seungcheol nodded, nervously sucking in his cheeks. Gently rocking on the heels of his feet, he asked, “Maybe...coffee?”

For a little while, the circle around their personal space was filled with anticipation. Seungcheol waited for an answer, his heart beating in his ears. But this time, Jihoon didn’t leave him hanging for too long. He blushed and laughed, smiling down at his feet before glancing back up. “Coffee sounds good.”

Overcome with joy, Seungcheol nearly ruptured his cheeks from smiling so hard. “YES!” he exclaimed, startling Jihoon. Then out of nowhere, he grabbed Jihoon by the shoulders and leaned in, kissing him right on the side of his cheek, his soft lips firmly pressing against his skin.

This was the most surprised Jihoon had looked during their whole encounter. His eyes nearly popped out of his skull as his hand flew up to clutch his cheek. His heart stopped before it nearly exploded after realizing what had just happened. As Seungcheol retracted, he couldn’t hide how happy he was, nearly jumping up and down from his excitement. The cute boy was going to get coffee with him. Jihoon was going to get coffee with him! JIHOON WAS GOING TO GET COFFEE WITH HIM!

“YAH!” Jihoon screamed, sounding upset but wearing the same, uncontainable smile. His body tingled as he yelled. “YOU CAN’T JUST—!”

But Seungcheol quickly released his grip, swung the door back open, and scampered into his apartment. Only revealing his head through the crack, he flashed a huge smile and chimed, “I’ll see you tomorrow morning. For coffee.” And with one last longing stare, he closed the door and disappeared. Locking the door, he quickly turned and slammed his back against it. He had no idea what came over him, but he couldn’t control his urge to just...kiss him like that! Seungcheol’s brain was wracking with panic, if he crossed a line with Jihoon or if that was just too rash. But that panic was almost immediately replaced with pure excitement. Finally, Seungcheol gave a deep, satisfied sigh and went back to moving boxes, smiling like an idiot, and only thinking of two things: Jihoon and getting coffee the next morning.

On the other side, for a minute, Jihoon just stood there, dazed and cupping his face. He could feel how incredibly warm he was getting, but he didn’t care. No one was there to see. And with that thought in mind, he laughed and sank to the floor. He leaned back against his own front door and smiled into his hands, trying to wrap his head around what was going on. Did that all really just happen? Did he seriously just get a date with the hot guy across the hall? Was he actually going to get coffee...with Seungcheol? Was Seungcheol even real?

And when it finally hit him, that all of that did really happen. That he seriously got a date with the hot guy across the hall. That he was actually going to get coffee with Seungcheol. And that Seungcheol was so incredibly real...He nearly passed out. Laughing like a maniac, his whole body ached with joy, such a huge contrast from how tired he was before. Now he was...giddy. Like a little kid, but even better. He felt like he was floating...No...He felt like he was falling...He was getting that rush you feel from the drop…

But then he actually fell.

“What the hell, Jihoon?!” Mingyu exclaimed as he opened the apartment door and watched as Jihoon fell backwards onto the floor. “Were you just sitting against the door?!”

Jihoon lowered his hands to reveal his overly happy face. Placing his hands on his stomach with his head on the ground, he smiled up at Mingyu, who looked confused beyond belief. But he didn’t care that he was laying on the floor. He didn’t care that he may have just banged his head a bit. Nothing mattered. With his hair sprawled behind him, Jihoon just kept smiling. “Did I ever tell you that my lucky number’s 17?” And with that, he started to laugh uncontrollably, thinking about how, thankfully, it was Seungcheol’s lucky number, too.

But Mingyu just rolled his eyes, leaning against the door and staring down at his hysterical friend. “There’s something wrong with you.”


	3. Knock Knock

“Okay,” Jihoon said to himself, wiping down his shirt for the fifteenth time. “Okay.” He lifted his fist and placed it right up against the door of apartment 917A. Taking in a deep breath and shutting his eyes, he repeated, “Okay.”

“Are you gonna knock yet?”

Jihoon turned around and glared back at Soonyoung, who was just leaning against their doorframe. “I was about to,” Jihoon flatly replied.

Soonyoung scoffed and rolled his eyes as Mingyu came over and stood next to him. “You’re still here?” Mingyu questioned, holding his bowl of cereal.

“He can’t pull himself to knock on the door,” Soonyoung smirked.

Trying to ignore his friends’ less-than-supportive-but-knowingly-heartfelt remarks, Jihoon flipped back around and continued to stare down Seungcheol’s door. “I’m nervous, alright?” he stated, readjusting his front buttons again.

Finally smiling, Soonyoung stepped forward and gently brushed Jihoon’s shoulders. “Don’t be nervous. _He_ asked you out, right?”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“It’ll be fine,” Soonyoung chuckled, trying to ease his tension. “Just be your charming self. Our Jihoonie gets all the boys, just remember that.”

Jihoon managed to grin a bit. “Since when do I get all the boys?”

“Since you’re the one going on a date at 9 in the morning and the two of us get to go out with each other,” Mingyu commented before slurping up the rest of his milk.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing!” Soonyoung exclaimed.

Mingyu threw his hand up in defense and stepped back. “I’m sorry! But we’re just friends and I would much rather be with, I don’t know, the other guy who lives in this building!”

Soonyoung tilted his head a bit. “You wanna go out with Wonwoo?”

“What? Wonwoo? No!” Mingyu cried out, surprised. “I meant Seungcheol’s roommate. Remember, I told you about him last night. Nice long hair, good height, great smile…” Mingyu started to trail off a bit before snapping back into focus and staring at Soonyoung, confused. “What do you mean Wonwoo? He doesn’t live here.”

“Yeah he does,” Jihoon said, not taking his eyes off the door.

“What?!”

Soonyoung laughed. “Don’t look so thrown! He just moved in with Hansol upstairs.”

A little embarrassed, Mingyu tried not to show it. He shook his head and said, “I’m not thrown! With Hansol? When did this happen?”

“Relax, Mingyu,” Jihoon chuckled. “Hansol needed another roommate to help him and Minghao with rent, remember? Wonwoo answered the ad.”

“Right. I just—I didn’t even know you guys knew Wonwoo.”

“Jihoon and I had biology with him,” Soonyoung said, pointing to the two of them. “How do _you_ know him?”

Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, Mingyu glanced down at the ground before walking to the kitchen, making sure to not make eye contact. “Not important right now. What _is_ important is that Jihoon should’ve knocked about fifteen minutes ago.”

Containing his suspicion for the sake of being there for Jihoon, Soonyoung turned his attention back to him. “Just knock.”

“Okay,” Jihoon said again. With one last deep breath, he threw his fist up and was just about to make contact…

...when it opened.

“Hey Jihoon!”

Surprised, Jihoon just stared at him for a good three seconds before replying, “Hi...Jeonghan!”

Jeonghan flashed a big smile before opening the door even wider to reveal the still empty apartment. “Seungcheol actually left for your guys’ date twenty minutes ago.”

“What?!” Jihoon shouted unintentionally.

Jeonghan quickly nodded and joined them out in the hall, closing the door behind him. “Yeah, don’t worry though, he said he wanted to be early. Don’t know why. But yeah, you’re totally fine.”

“Okay.” Jihoon gave a sigh of relief, but at the same time was slightly disappointed. As nervous as he was, he was kind of excited to pick up his date. Even if it was just from across the hall.

Seeing this, Soonyoung patted him on the back. “Ahh, Jihoonie, you’ll meet him there. You guys never set a time, right?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon said, letting out some air. “Yeah, we didn’t.”

Locking the door, Jeonghan gently laughed. “He’s really excited. He was bouncing off the walls before he left. He was so happy, actually, he forgot that we’re supposed to pick up some new furniture in half an hour. So guess who gets to do that fun job without him?”

Jihoon chuckled and smiled back at him. “Thanks, Jeonghan. Do you need any help? I could loan you these guys.”

“Yah!” Soonyoung exclaimed. “I’m not just something you can rent out!”

Laughing, Jeonghan turned his attention to Soonyoung. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

He smiled and bowed slightly. “I’m Soonyoung.”

“Soonyoung,” Jeonghan repeated, bowing as well. “I’m Jeonghan.”

“So I’ve heard,” Soonyoung teased as Mingyu came back into the doorframe.

Jeonghan looked over at Mingyu and grinned. “So you have.”

“I may have mentioned you to him,” Mingyu flushed, trying to contain the pink that would soon wash over his cheeks.

“Yeah, I know. Sorry, but I kind of heard all of your guys’ conversation out here,” he laughed. “Did you know you can hear really well through these doors?”

Immediately, Mingyu’s eyes grew wide as he stammered, “Uhh…”

But Jeonghan just kept laughing. “It’s okay, Mingyu. Thanks, I’m glad you like my hair. But I’m sorry to break it to you…” He leaned forward a bit and raised his eyebrow. “I’m already taken.”

“Uhh…”

With poor Mingyu at a lost for words, Soonyoung bursted into laughter. “Mingyu-ah! You should probably give Wonwoo a call soon!”

Still embarrassed, Mingyu managed to look over and glare at his friend. “Shut up.”

Smiling and enjoying this conversation, Jihoon shook himself and realized he should probably get going. “Oh, damn, sorry guys!” he remarked as he brushed past Jeonghan and quickly started to make his way down the hall. “I would love to stay for the rest of this, really I would, but I should probably go now,” he called back.

Jeonghan waved and cupped his hand around his mouth. “Let him know I get to pick whatever couch I want since he won’t be there!”

“Be your charming self!” Soonyoung added.

Jihoon smiled and waved back before darting down the halls and quickly getting to the elevator. Even though Jeonghan said he was fine, he felt rushed all of a sudden. Thankfully there was already an elevator waiting for him when he got there. After going from 9 and passing 8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1 floors and feeling like those were the longest 24 seconds of his life, Jihoon rushed out onto the main floor and then straight through the front entrance of the building. The fresh morning air hit him square in the face as he stepped outside. Then it hit him everywhere else. It wasn’t until now that he realized his repetitive date preparation did not call for a jacket that morning. He groaned but knew it was too late to turn back, so he was going to have to muscle through the cold.

The coffee shop was literally two doors down from his apartment building. It was one of the reasons he went there every morning. It was always toasty and warm and homey. But this morning, all of those comfortable aspects seemed to fade into the background. Instead of just a place to get his drink, this was now a date spot. He was going on a date. That fact hit him again and again as he walked past those two doors. He hadn’t been on a date in months, and all of them ended in...well, ended. He started to panic and fear that all of this may have been a mistake. That nothing good would come out of it and it would only lead to awkward encounters in the hallway. Or in the elevator. Or in the lobby. Or worse, in his favorite coffee shop. But then, just before he was about to reach the front door of Akkinda Coffee House, he saw him. And all of those worries evaporated.

Seungcheol was sitting on a high stool in front of the window bar at the front of the shop. He was just...sitting there, on his phone. And for some reason, Jihoon was mesmerized. It was like seeing him for the first time yesterday all over again. “Wow, that was just yesterday,” Jihoon thought to himself. It felt like so much longer. Maybe because all he’d been able to think of for the past few hours was this pretty boy from across the hall.

For a moment, the only thing that stood between the two of them was that glass pane. Jihoon just watched as Seungcheol didn’t even notice he was there. He took in every beautiful feature that he had the pleasure of seeing yesterday and smiled to himself. But then he realized that he definitely didn’t want to be caught staring. So he did something he wasn’t able to do all morning.

_Knock. Knock._

Immediately, Seungcheol’s head shot up and a smile appeared on his face. And all Jihoon could do was smile back the same way. His stomach filled with butterflies as he walked over to the door and headed inside.


	4. Akkinda Coffee Shop

“Hey!” Seungcheol instantly greeted him. He didn’t need to get down from his seat because Jihoon quickly hopped into the one next to him.

“Hey!” Jihoon was beaming with excitement and he could hardly contain it now that he was with Seungcheol again. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Jeonghan told me you left a little while ago.”

“Oh, no problem,” Seungcheol said, still staring at Jihoon as he got comfortable and settled in. He put his phone aside and just smiled at him while he wasn’t looking. This flood of good energy just filled his body as he watched him. “I’m sorry about that. I know we didn’t have an exact time so you could’ve been here or I could’ve been here for a while…”

Looking out the window, Jihoon chuckled. “Or you could’ve just walked the five feet from your place to mine and asked what time you wanted to meet.”

Seungcheol laughed and swiveled his stool so his knees were facing Jihoon. “You could’ve done that too, ya know.”

“I tried!” Jihoon insisted.

“When?!” Seungcheol challenged, staring and grinning intensely.

But, like yesterday, he refused to look directly at him so early in the encounter. “This morning…”

“Well, then I think it’s safe to say that neither of us did what we could’ve,” Seungcheol teased.

Jihoon smiled into his chest as he leaned on his forearms on the counter. “Fine, fair enough.”

Seungcheol took a moment to just admire Jihoon again. He looked extra cute right there, even cuter than yesterday if that was possible. His button down shirt and his dark jeans made him look clean and put together, like someone going on a date. For a second it made Seungcheol second guess his choice of black t-shirt, grey coat, and blue jeans.

But Jihoon loved it. He thought it made him look casual and easy. Not easy in a bad way, but easy as in someone you could easily be around. He wasn’t looking at him now, but when he saw him from outside, that outfit looked perfect.

Seungcheol could feel his insides turn from excitement as he sat next to Jihoon. He could just sense that it was going to be a good day.

Jihoon patted the table and finally turned to face Seungcheol. He smiled and tilted his head in the most adorable way. “Should I order?”

“No, no, you don’t have to,” Seungcheol said, waving his hand in the air.

Jihoon looked out the window for a second before back at Seungcheol, “What? I can’t buy you something? It’s totally fine! What do you want? I’ll get it.”

But Seungcheol just kept smiling. “No, seriously you don’t have to.”

Jihoon twisted himself so his knees were in front of Seungcheol’s. They were nearly touching. Nearly, to Seungcheol’s dismay. “Come on, let me buy you something! What’s your order?”

“You seriously don’t have to order,” Seungcheol laughed, now forcing him to look out the window and not at the adorable boy sitting in front of him.

Jihoon raised his eyebrows and leaned forward a bit, trying to regain Seungcheol’s attention. “Why not?!”

“Order for Seungcheol and Jihoon.”

Jihoon turned to his left to find Seungkwan, his usual waiter and (he learned yesterday) Seungcheol’s friend, standing next to them holding a tray with two coffees resting on it. And, of course, one of the drinks was his usual order. Jihoon couldn’t help but flash a huge grin before scoffing and shaking his head into his chest.

Pleased with his reaction, Seungcheol just kept smiling. He leaned forward a bit and whispered, “That’s why.”

Jihoon tilted his head up to look Seungcheol right in the eyes. As much as his reflexes told him to look away, he kept his gaze and chuckled. “I get it now.”

Laughing, Seungcheol turned to Seungkwan and nodded. “Thanks, Seungkwan.”

“Anything for you and my favorite customer,” Seungkwan chimed, reaching between the two of them to put their drinks on the counter. “Jihoon, when Seungcheol told me he was meeting YOU here, I nearly flipped this whole place!”

Jihoon giggled and nodded back at Seungkwan. “Thanks, Seungkwan. He asked you about my order?”

“Oh yeah,” Seungkwan said, now holding the tray under his arm. “He was so hyped, even more than I was!”

Seungcheol’s mouth hung open a bit as he looked to his friend. “Seungkwannie, he really doesn’t need to know…”

“No, no!” Seungkwan interrupted, ignoring Seungcheol and keeping his attention on Jihoon’s smiling face. “He was SOOO excited! He ran in here and nearly hopped over the counter to get your order!” Clearly enjoying this, Jihoon started to laugh pretty hard, while Seungcheol sunk into himself, trying to keep the blush down. “Yeah, I was at the front register and he rushes in, GRABS me by the collar, and shakes me yelling, ‘WHAT’S JIHOON’S ORDER?!’”

“HE DID THAT?!” Jihoon asked through his laughter. His eyes were sealed shut as his body shook. Seungcheol, more than embarrassed, was still able to enjoy seeing Jihoon like this. There was something enchanting about his laugh.

“YEAH!” Seungkwan kept going. “And I was like, ‘JIHOON?! YOU KNOW JIHOON?!’ And then he explained the whole thing and told me to have the drinks ready and bring them over when you got here.”

Still laughing like crazy, Jihoon turned back to Seungcheol. “You definitely are straightforward.”

Now glowing a deep shade of pink, Seungcheol scratched the side of his forehead and looked to Seungkwan. “Thank you, Seungkwan...for that.”

Seungkwan curled his lips into a satisfied grin. “Any time.” Before walking away, he patted Jihoon on the back with his tray and leaned in to whisper, “You two would be good together.”

This made Jihoon blush a bit. He nodded and said, “Thanks again, Seungkwan.”

“Call me if you guys need me.”

“Trust me,” Seungcheol called after him. “We won’t be needing anymore of you.”

Smiling, Jihoon refocused his attention to Seungcheol, the boy who so enthusiastically anticipated this date. “You and Seungkwan, huh?”

Seungcheol scoffed and leaned his head on his fist. Jihoon couldn’t help but admire how good he looked in that position. “Yeah, Seungkwan’s been around for a while.”

“Really?” Jihoon asked, taking a sip from his hot cup.

Seungcheol smiled and looked over at Seungkwan at the front register. “Yep, probably for as long as I can remember. We’re childhood friends and I could never seem to shake him off.”

Jihoon giggled. “From what I know about him, he’s pretty great.”

“Yeah he is. He’s that type of friend you want to have around, you know? Always looking out for you, always there. It’s nice to have that. I couldn’t imagine getting by without him.” Jihoon just listened, enjoying how fondly Seungcheol thought of his friend. It was how he thought of Soonyoung and the others. “He definitely has a way with embellishing stories, though.”

“What? You mean all of that didn’t happen exactly like he said?” Jihoon teased.

Smiling, Seungcheol looked back to him. “More or less.”

For the next however-long-it-was, Jihoon and Seungcheol basically picked up where they left off from yesterday. Every so often Seungcheol would knowingly throw Jihoon off his game, getting him an appropriate slap on the shoulder. Eventually, Jihoon got comfortable enough to twist towards him, letting their knees just tap each other. It made Seungcheol shiver and feel all giddy.

Jihoon wasn’t certain if all of it was okay, but he definitely felt good. His insides were doing somersaults while his face could not stop laughing. Seungcheol was just...great. His jokes were so corny and so stupid that they were hilarious, and Jihoon loved it. He loved how easy it was to talk to him and how fun it was to be with him. “Be with him,” Jihoon thought to himself. How great would it be to officially _be_ with him? Just thinking about this made Jihoon get the chills. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Jihoon. Don’t blow this. Just enjoy what’s happening right now.” But he couldn’t help it. All Jihoon could think about was how amazing it would be to have Seungcheol as his boyfriend. How nice it would be to spend late nights together on the couch watching movies. Or how great it would be to hold his hand while walking down the street. Or how sweet it would be to call him and say “good night.”

At the same time, Seungcheol was just soaking in as much Jihoon as possible. He memorized every detail on his face and every curve that appeared when he smiled. Where Jihoon was imagining what the future _could_ hold, Seungcheol was planning what they _would_ do next time. “Next time,” he thought to himself. “There will definitely be a next time.” Seungcheol was not letting this boy go, and he knew it. And this feeling was...overwhelming. He had only felt this way about one other person and during that time he never thought it could happen again. But here he was. And it was happening all over again, but this time it was even more intense. Jihoon made his heart pound in his ears and his legs wobble when he stood. Just something about him was incredible.

“Yeah, I play the guitar in my free time,” Jihoon said, finishing up his third cup of coffee. He had switched to decaf after the first one, but felt the need to order more if he wanted the date to continue. Thankfully he loved coffee and had a strong bladder.

“Mm!” Seungcheol muttered as he bit his muffin. Finishing chewing, he said, “That’s so cool! For how long?”

“Eh, for a while I guess. I used to practice all the time and even write…”

“You write?!”

Jihoon waved his hand up. “No, no! I mean, yeah, I’ve tried in the past. I don’t know, back in middle school I used to have this dream of…” He stopped and looked at Seungcheol from the corner of his eye before shaking his head. “Never mind, it’s stupid.”

“No it’s not!” Seungcheol insisted, throwing his hand on Jihoon’s thigh. His touch made Jihoon quiver and nearly fall out of his chair. “It’s not stupid, whatever it is!”

Jihoon raised an eyebrow at him. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

Seungcheol sat back up and nodded. “Promise.”

He sighed and said, “I used to want to be...an idol.”

“How is that embarrassing?!” Seungcheol immediately exclaimed, giggling.

“You said you wouldn’t laugh!”

“No! I’m not laughing at you! It’s just, well, EVERYONE wants to be an idol at one point or another,” Seungcheol explained. “Even I did.”

Jihoon chuckled, “Well I REALLY wanted to, okay! Me and my friend Soonyoung had it all planned out. We were gonna audition together and form a group called FIVE.”

“FIVE?” Seungcheol asked. “Why FIVE? There’s only two of you.”

“Two members. Two units. One team,” Jihoon sighed, trying to hide his shame. “Adds up to five.”

Seungcheol, against his promise, started to laugh, “That’s pretty good! But how would there be units if there were only two members?”

“I don’t know, it was Soonyoung’s plan,” Jihoon grumbled.

But Seungcheol found it adorable. “Well, if you guys ever decide to pursue it, I’ll come to all of your events.”

For another hour, they kept talking and laughing and smiling and drinking and eating and blushing. Neither of them wanted to leave, but then Seungcheol got a phone call. “Sorry, give me one second.”

“Yeah, go ahead,” Jihoon said, slightly saddened by the interruption.

And so was Seungcheol. He gave a weak smile before picking up the phone. “Hello? Jisoo?”

 _“Seungcheol, are you still on your date?”_ Jisoo asked from the other end.

Seungcheol smiled and looked to Jihoon, who was circling his finger around the lip of his fifth cup. “Yeah, I am.”

_“Oh, sorry to bother you, but we have a problem. The store won’t help us bring in the couch so we’re gonna need you to help with that.”_

“What? You guys still haven’t gotten the couch?”

 _“Well, Jeonghan here took forever to pick one,”_ Jisoo giggled. _“And when we finally did, the guys said that we would need to call another person to help with it.”_

“You mean when you get home?”

Jisoo sighed, _“Actually, right now. I’m really sorry, hyung. I knew you were really excited for this date…”_

“Yeah,” Seungcheol sighed, now wearing the appropriate look of disappointment. Jihoon noticed the shift in his tone and looked to see that sad expression. “Right now?”

_“Sorry, Seungcheol.”_

With one last sigh, he pulled his hair back off his forehead and nodded. “Okay, yeah, I’ll be right there.”

Hearing those words hit Jihoon right in the chest. Like the wind was knocked out of him.

_“Thanks, hyung. See you in a bit.”_

“Bye.” Seungcheol let a deep breath and hung up the phone before slowly looking up at Jihoon. “I’m _really_ sorry, Jihoon.”

But Jihoon tried to keep a smile. “You have to go?”

“Yeah, they need me with this whole couch situation. Our furniture from the old place is getting delivered later today but this new couch is different.”

Jihoon nodded before looking into Seungcheol’s now sad eyes. “That’s okay.”

Seungcheol gave a weak grin before reluctantly standing up out of his seat. “Come on, I’ll walk you to the apartment.”

Nodding, Jihoon stepped down and they both walked out of the coffee shop. It was no longer morning, so the air was now warm and alive. It was a bright day in Seoul and Jihoon felt like falling into the clouds. The date had gone so well and he was just sad that it was drawing to a close.

They walked and talked for the few yards until they were right in front of the apartment building. “Well,” Seungcheol smiled. “Here we are.”

Jihoon chuckled and stepped forward to stand and face in front of him. “Here we are.”

For a moment, they both just stood there, beaming at each other. Seungcheol shoved his hands into his pockets and couldn’t look away from Jihoon’s eyes. And Jihoon just returned the gaze until he broke into a chuckle. He smiled down at the ground before back up at Seungcheol. “I had a lot of fun.”

“Good. I did too,” Seungcheol gushed. “But next time, I’ll make sure we’re not interrupted.”

“Next time?” Jihoon asked slyly, but on the inside he was dying. He said next time!

Seungcheol chuckled and nodded. “Definitely next time. I’ll just knock on your door later today and we’ll see when we can meet up again. Sound good?”

Jihoon grinned. “Sounds great.”

“Great.” Seungcheol knew that he should probably get going, but he just didn’t want to leave. Jihoon was not someone you could walk away from easily. But the longer he stayed, the harder it would be. “I guess I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon said, trying to contain himself and remain calm.

“Okay then,” Seungcheol said as he started to backpedal away. With a wave of his hand, he began to turn around. “Bye, Jihoon.”

But before he could leave, Jihoon exclaimed, “Wait!”

Seungcheol stopped and turned fully back around. “Yeah?”

Jihoon paused, starting to blush as he thought of what he was going to say. He had been thinking about it since yesterday and wasn’t planning on saying anything, but now he had to. “Uh…”

Seungcheol chuckled, “You just don’t want me to leave, do you?”

Jihoon laughed and shook his head. “No, not that. It’s just…”

“Yeah?” Seungcheol questioned, slowly stepping back towards him.

Jihoon’s face turned red as he looked away and said, “Yesterday...you kissed me before you left.”

A huge smile jumped on Seungcheol’s face as he stopped in front of him. “Oh yeah, that. I’m sorry if that was too much after just—”

“No! No!” Jihoon interjected, not knowing what was coming over himself. “It’s just—I mean, I didn’t—I was just, you know I—you—” he stammered.

And Seungcheol just kept smiling. “Jihoon-ah,” he said, gently interrupting him.

Jihoon finally looked to him, totally concerned and worried about how stupid he must be coming off. “Yeah?”

And then, just like the day before, Seungcheol quickly grabbed Jihoon by the shoulders, leaned in, and kissed him right on the cheek. This time for a few seconds longer. And just as he let go, he looked right into Jihoon’s shocked eyes and smiled, “You’re adorable.”

And with that, he released his grip, turned around, and ran down the sidewalk. Laughing, he looked over his shoulder and waved, “I’ll see you soon!”

Dumbfounded, Jihoon held his cheek as he blushed even harder. It was the most wonderful moment of deja vu he had ever had. But somehow, Seungcheol’s kiss this time was even warmer, something Jihoon didn’t even know was possible. And as he stood there, melting and screaming on the inside, he watched as Seungcheol got smaller and smaller in the distance. And luckily he finally shook himself back into reality before he was too far away. “YAH! SEUNGCHEOL!” he screamed. Seungcheol quickly snapped around and smiled at him. Jihoon chuckled, still clutching his face, and yelled, “IS THIS GONNA BE A REGULAR THING? YOU KISSING ME THEN RUNNING AWAY?”

Seungcheol laughed and cupped his hands around his mouth. “IF YOU WANT IT TO BE!” And with that, he turned and ran around the corner at the end of the street. Slowing his pace, he needed to control himself. He took a second to just stop and bend over to catch his breath. Not from the running, but from the emotions running through him. Jihoon made him feel so happy, so full of energy. And he had never experienced anything else like it.

As Jihoon watched Seungcheol disappear, he just couldn’t stop smiling. He took a second to just stop and bend over to catch his breath. He hadn’t even moved but his body was exhausted. It was insane how much he felt when being with Seungcheol. Seungcheol made him feel so great, so excited. And now he just smiled to the ground and thought to himself, “Yes, I want it to be.”


	5. Forgot My Key...Again

“It may have taken three hours,” Jisoo said, spreading his arms out along the back of the couch, “but you picked a good one, baby.”

Jeonghan laughed and turned away from the TV, looking over his shoulders to stare up at his boyfriend. “Yeah, I really did.”

Giggling, Jisoo squatted down to be at eye level with him. “It fits really well with the place.” He smiled, but then paused for a second before pouting. “But, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss living with you.”

“Aww, Jisoo-ah,” Jeonghan murmured, softly stroking his cheek. “I know. I miss you, too.”

“Then come back and stay with me,” Jisoo begged, taking his hand and shaking it cutely.

“You know I can’t. You live way too far from the school. And you can’t live here…”

“...cause it’s way too far from  _ my _ school,” Jisoo sighed. “Yeah, yeah, we’ve gone over this.”

Jeonghan smiled and leaned over to kiss him on the forehead. “Stop looking like that. Come on,” he smirked, giving Jisoo a knowing look. “Help me break in the new sofa.”

Jisoo tilted his head up to smile back at him. “Mmm? What, that should make me feel better?” he teased.

“It should,” Jeonghan chuckled, pulling Jisoo up by the collar.

Laughing, Jisoo stood up and crawled over the back of the couch, letting himself get dragged by Jeonghan, who was already lying down, until he was on his hands and knees hovering just above him. His palms sinking into the cushion, his face got closer to his boyfriend’s. “You look really good from here,” he gushed.

Rolling his eyes, Jeonghan beamed and yanked him closer, “You don’t  _ always _ have to be such a gentleman.”

Smiling into his lips, Jisoo fell into Jeonghan’s kiss as he tried to keep the rest of his body steady. But it was no use. Jeonghan’s lips made his arms give out and he laid right on top of him. Jeonghan’s arms wrapped around Jisoo’s back as the two of them “broke in the new couch.”

As they giggled and rolled around in each other’s embrace, Seungcheol stepped out of the bedroom, but didn’t notice since he was watching his phone. “Hey, guys, where’s a good place to go for…,” he said as he glanced up. Upon seeing them, he threw his hands up to cover his eyes. “OH, GUYS! COME ON! DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO DO THAT HERE?!”

It took them a second, but they eventually unlocked to chuckle and look over at the distraught Seungcheol. “Sorry, Seungcheol,” Jisoo giggled, trying to unhook his leg from Jeonghan.

But Jeonghan grabbed him and refused to let go. “Yes, we’re very, very sorry!” he exclaimed before pulling Jisoo back into his lips.

With a weak smile, Seungcheol rolled his eyes and went back to scrolling through his phone. “I was gonna ask you guys where’s a good place to go for dinner on a date, but never mind.” He spun back around and was headed for his bed when there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Seungcheol announced, shoving his phone into his pocket and heading towards it.

“Thank you!” Jeonghan cried out.

Seungcheol unlocked the door and turned the knob. Immediately, his face lit up. “Jihoon!” he exclaimed, not expecting this cutie to stop by.

Jihoon flashed a huge grin and blushed ever so slightly. “Hey! Sorry, I know we’re supposed to meet up tonight, but I…” Jihoon’s voice trailed off as his eyes redirected their attention from Seungcheol to the couple behind him. “Uhhh…”

Seungcheol did a double take real quick to see Jeonghan and Jisoo still making out. Staring at Jihoon’s shocked expression, he whispered, “Save me.”

But he just scoffed and chuckled a bit. “Is that Jeonghan?”

From the couch, Jeonghan waved his hand in the air and lifted his chin up to view Jihoon upside down. “Hi, Jihoon!”

“Uhh,” Jihoon hesitated, awkwardly smiling back. “Hi.”

Jeonghan giggled and pointed up at his boyfriend’s smiling face. “This is Jisoo, by the way.”

“Hi, nice to meet you!” Jisoo greeted, giving the most genuine smile anyone’s ever seen. “Sorry, usually I would shake your hand or introduce myself properly, but—”

“—but he’s a little busy right now!” Jeonghan laughed, obviously high off his boyfriend’s tongue. He quickly reattached himself to Jisoo and they went back about their business.

Slightly uncomfortable, Jihoon managed to chuckle at how happy they both seemed. And for a split second, he thought of how great it would be to be like them with Seungcheol. But he almost immediately shook that thought to glance back at Seungcheol. Damn, he looked good. “They’re cute,” Jihoon commented.

“Save me,” Seungcheol said one more time, lowering his chin and intensely staring at Jihoon.

He smiled and pointed back at his apartment. “Actually, I can’t. I was about to tell you that…”

A huge grin made its way onto Seungcheol’s face. He crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the doorframe. “You forgot your key again, didn’t you?”

Jihoon looked down at the floor and anxiously rubbed the back of his neck. Watching him, Seungcheol was fondly reminded of the first time they met just a few days ago. He was a lot less flustered than he had been then, but still just as cute. And Seungcheol felt the same rush of emotions, if not harder now. “Yeaaahhhhh,” Jihoon confessed, refusing to look at Seungcheol’s smug face.

“Are you sure? Or is this just an excuse for me to invite you in again?” Seungcheol teased, getting in his face.

Jihoon scoffed and stepped back. Seungcheol was so close it was making him way more nervous than he already was. It took so much courage out of him just to knock on that door. Now he was losing all ability to pull himself together. “We’re going out tonight,” he pointed out, turning away so Seungcheol wouldn’t see him blush. “Why would I need an excuse to see you?”

“Maybe that wouldn’t have been enough for you.” Seungcheol enjoyed watching Jihoon’s reaction way too much, his cheeks were hurting from being stretched out too long.

Jihoon sighed and tried to contain himself. “Are you gonna invite me in or not?” he finally asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy in front of him, the boy he so longed to punch but at the same time kiss. It was a horrible experience for Jihoon, seeing that if it were anyone else they would’ve already received a beating.

Finally, Seungcheol gave in. “Come on,” he smiled, nodding his head towards the apartment.

“Thanks,” Jihoon said, raising his eyebrows as he walked in. 

Seungcheol lead the way. “We can just go to the room. Let these guys use our BRAND NEW COUCH,” he said louder to get their attention.

“Breaking it in!” Jeonghan hollered, giving a thumbs up.

Jihoon chuckled and followed him into the place’s only bedroom. As Seungcheol softly closed the door, Jihoon scanned his surroundings and took in everything that made Seungcheol “Seungcheol.” Decently large, the room had two twin beds on either side, and just based on what he knew about him already, Jihoon smiled to himself after quickly realizing which one was his date’s. Picking the one to his right that had a Taeyang poster hanging above it and a basketball on the floor right next to it, Jihoon cautiously sat down beside the three pillows on top of the blue and white comforter and grinned at Seungcheol. “Nice room.” But all he was thinking was, “Dear lord, I’m in his room.”

Seungcheol grinned, making his way over to sit beside him. “Yeah, it’s not too bad. It’s big enough so sharing with Jeonghan doesn’t make it too cramp.” Sinking into the mattress, he pulled his legs up so he could crawl back and rest his back against the wall.

“You and Jeonghan must be pretty close,” Jihoon smiled, repositioning himself against the wall as well so he could more easily glance back and forth from the pretty boy beside him and the window that would provide a distraction when he needed to stop blushing.

Taking a second, Seungcheol made sure not to look at Jihoon. “Uhh, yeah, we are.”

Jihoon tilted his head a bit, looking at Seungcheol’s slightly uneasy expression. “You don’t sound too confident about that.”

“No, no,” Seungcheol sighed, shaking his head. “We ARE close. Me, him, and Jisoo have actually been friends since middle school. But yeah, the dynamic of the group kind of shifted once Jisoo and Jeonghan started going out.”

“Oh,” Jihoon nodded. “How long have they been together?”

“Just a few months,” Seungcheol replied, twiddling his fingers. “But there’s always been something between them apparently. So yeah, as close as we all were before, it’s just a bit different now. I mean, we’re still really good friends, it’s just…”

“Different,” Jihoon finished for him.

Forcing a half smile, Seungcheol nodded. “Yeah.”

Jihoon could tell that Seungcheol was distraught over this issue and probably thought about it whenever Jisoo and Jeonghan acted like they were now. Jihoon got the feeling that Seungcheol didn’t mind the two being a couple. He just missed his old friends. “They seem really happy together,” Jihoon commented, not entirely sure what to say next.

But that was fine, since Seungcheol didn’t want to elaborate anyway. His concerns over Jeonghan didn’t need to cloud his mind when he was with Jihoon. He finally turned to face and smile at him. “They are.”

“So,” Jihoon started, “I’ve met Jeonghan, Seungkwan, and now Jisoo. Any other friends I should keep an eye out for?”

Seungcheol laughed and lightly patted his shoulder. “Just a few. But I’ll let you get overwhelmed by them when you actually meet. No need to scare you off right now.”

Jihoon chuckled and took a moment to just stare into Seungcheol’s big, beautiful eyes. They seemed to sparkle with his reflection and shimmer from the sunlight.

Since Jihoon’s eyes curved up and shut in the most adorable way when he smiled, Seungcheol paid more attention to the boy’s lips. It was a horrible habit of his to pay the most attention to a person’s lips because it could just send the wrong message. But in this case, it would send a message he wouldn’t mind Jihoon receiving. “What about your friends?” Seungcheol finally asked. “You and Soonyoung and Mingyu all close?”

Nodding, Jihoon turned away and answered, “I’d definitely say so.”

“How long have you all known each other?” Seungcheol watched the side of Jihoon’s face as he talked, pleased with the nice view he had: Jihoon’s profile with the afternoon sunshine as a backdrop.

“Well, I’ve known Soonyoung longer,” Jihoon explained. “We’ve been with each other since forever, like you and Seungkwan. Mingyu, we both didn’t meet him until we rented this place two years ago and he answered the ad.”

“It’s nice to have people around, isn’t it?” Seungcheol softly commented.

“Yeah, they’re great. Outside of my friends though, I don’t really talk to many people,” Jihoon admitted. But upon saying it, he felt himself tense up. Why did he just say that? Why would he want Seungcheol to know he’s pretty shut off from the rest of the world?

But Seungcheol just chuckled. “I can tell.”

Jihoon blushed and looked away. “I know it’s not the best quality, but I just...don’t socialize too much, I guess.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Seungcheol suggested, listening intently.

Jihoon sighed, slightly relieved that Seungcheol wasn’t immediately turned off. “Yeah, I mean I have my group of friends and they’re all great, there’s like...seven of us. And I can deal with them and that, but I just don’t...know how to mingle or get to know people too easily.” He sighed again, trying to collect his thoughts. “Sometimes it’s annoying. It’s stopped me from doing a lot and meeting a lot of people, but at the same time I don’t really mind. But then, that’s not really a good thing. I don’t think any of this makes sense, but I kind of like being more reclusive. I get really frustrated easily and I just feel so drained of my energy sometimes that I just don’t feel the need to get to know people.” He took a moment and just stared down at his hands as he confessed these things about himself to Seungcheol. Then, as if registering everything he had just claimed, his eyes grew wide as he turned to Seungcheol, waved his hands in front of him, and frantically exclaimed, “EXCEPT FOR YOU!”

Seungcheol burst into laughter, clutching his stomach and tilting over. He fell so far along the wall that his head landed right on Jihoon’s shoulder, which made Jihoon panic even more. But Seungcheol just kept laughing. As he was listening, he wasn’t thinking that Jihoon could’ve been referring to him. All he was thinking was how great it was that Jihoon was opening up to him and how attractive he found his more-closed-off personality. And this terrified reflex of his just made him far too adorable.  “JIHOON-AH!” Seungcheol finally managed to yell through his tears. But Jihoon was too focused on Seungcheol’s hair brushing against his neck to even pick up on this guy’s cute scream. Wiping under his eye, Seungcheol sat back up and chuckled a bit. “Jihoon-ah,” he repeated. He turned over and raised his eyebrows at him before saying, “I think your personality’s great.”

Jihoon coughed and tried to stay calm, but his brain was just flooded with Seungcheol he could hardly breathe. Something about him made Jihoon so comfortable to the point he could just talk like that. But at the same time, he had this insane level of nervousness that made him want to jump out a window. And for some reason, those two feelings combined created the most warm and consuming emotion ever. Jihoon had never been in love before, so he had no idea what to call this beginning stage. In his head, he decided to just go with “like.” He really liked Seungcheol.

And Seungcheol liked him right back. Beaming at the boy, Seungcheol continued, “I see nothing wrong with being the way you are, and I definitely don’t think you need to worry about it.” He smiled into his chest before saying, “It makes the people you  _ do _ open up to feel really special.”

Now Jihoon was in a frenzy. His heart was beating in his ears and he couldn’t feel his hands. They were tingling so intensely, they went numb. But on the outside, he just stared at Seungcheol’s smiling expression. The expression he put there. He made Seungcheol feel special. And all he could think was, “He needs to always feel special.” Then he chuckled and quietly said, “Good.”

Seungcheol gazed over at Jihoon and felt this huge desire to kiss him again. But he couldn’t. There was nowhere to run this time. He couldn’t just plant one on his cheek then go running from his own room.

But just then, as the two of them were both melting into puddles of “like,” there was a faint knock on the door. Both of their heads flicked that way as Jeonghan peeked inside. “Oh,” he uttered before opening the door wider and smiling at both of them. “Sorry about that guys,” he meekly said. He had done a complete 180 from the overly affectionate, PDA offender back to the angelic, bashful guy Seungcheol preferred seeing. “I kind of, uh…”

Rolling his eyes, Seungcheol laughed, “It’s okay, Jeonghan.”

Jihoon smiled as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He unlocked the screen and saw a text from Soonyoung that read,  _ “Hey, I just got home. You need to get inside?” _

Jeonghan blushed and looked down at the ground. “You guys can come hang out out here now if you want.”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to decline, but Jihoon interjected, “Actually, I think I’m gonna head home.”

Slightly disappointed, Seungcheol looked over at him. “Really?”

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah, Soonyoung just got back.” But seeing Seungcheol’s face made him a little guilty for leaving. “I’ll see you in a few hours though.” And immediately after hearing that, Seungcheol’s face lit back up. “Unless you forgot about our date already,” Jihoon teased as he stood up in front of him.

In the last few minutes, Seungcheol  _ had  _ forgotten, to his own surprise. It had felt like they were on their date right then. But now he was even more excited since nothing was over. The date hadn’t even started yet. Seungcheol scooched forward as if to get up. “I didn’t forget,” he lied. “Here, I’ll walk you out.”

“No, it’s okay,” Jihoon said, “I can find my way back.”

“No, but I want to,” Seungcheol insisted.

Jihoon blushed as he felt the anticipation build up in his chest. “No, you stay there,” he said, nearly choking on his nervousness.

Seungcheol stopped getting up and just sat in front of him, confused. “Hmm?”

Then, out of nowhere, Jihoon leaned down and pecked Seungcheol right on the cheek. It wasn’t as long or as firm as Seungcheol’s kisses, but touching his skin with his lips made Jihoon nearly fall to his knees. But he had to act fast if he didn’t want Seungcheol to see him die.

In that instance, Seungcheol’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. But as fast as he had gone for it, Jihoon retracted and Seungcheol hardly had a second to register everything. His insides were exploding. His face heated up and his heart was pounding like a drum. Every part of his body was tingling and he couldn’t feel his legs. But before he could even think of how amazing that all felt, Jihoon was running out of the room.

Seungcheol immediately shook himself and started to chase after him. “YAH!” he screamed, “YOU CAN’T JUST—!”

But Jihoon screamed back, “GRAB HIM, JEONGHAN!”

And before he could make it out of the bedroom, Seungcheol was stopped by Jeonghan barricading the door. “You stay put, buddy,” he laughed as Seungcheol desperately tried to get through.

“JIHOON!” he yelled.

Dashing through the living room, Jihoon laughed and waved to Jisoo. “See ya, Jisoo!”

“Bye!” Jisoo hollered back, but by then Jihoon was already out the door, shutting it behind him.

“JEONGHAN, LET ME GO!” Seungcheol yelled, feeling the soft kiss Jihoon left sink into his cheek.

But Jeonghan just kept laughing. “You’ll see him tonight,” he said. “This is too cute, just let him go and you’ll see him again tonight.”

Seungcheol sighed and fell to the floor, not in defeat but in exhaustion. His body felt limp and the only thing that was working was his heart. It was going crazy. Then, Seungcheol broke out into the biggest smile. Every encounter with Jihoon ended with a kiss, and each time they grew more intense. His face was lit with joy as he laid on his back and laughed into his hands. “Oh my god,” he muttered through his laughs.

Standing over him, Jeonghan chuckled. He crossed his arms and playfully kicked his foot. “Dork,” he smiled before leaving the door frame.

In the hallway, Jihoon screeched to a halt and rapidly pounded on his front door. “OPEN UP OPEN UP OPEN UP!” he hollered.

“WHAT THE HELL—!” Soonyoung exclaimed as the door swung open.

Before Soonyoung could say anything else, Jihoon shoved his way through and screamed, “LOCK THE DOOR LOCK THE DOOR!”

Soonyoung did as he was told and turned back, completely confused as he stared at Jihoon. “WHAT IS GOING ON?!” But Jihoon just stood there for a second, totally dazed. “Dude, are you alright?” Soonyoung asked, cautiously coming over to his friend.

As Jihoon’s insides were erupting, he looked to Soonyoung and flatly said, “Hold me.”

“What?” Soonyoung scoffed, smiling uneasily.

“JUST SHUT UP AND HOLD ME!” Jihoon demanded.

Immediately, Soonyoung jumped forward and embraced Jihoon. Since he was taller, it was no difficult task to wrap Jihoon’s entire body in his arms.

On contact, Jihoon sank to the floor. “WOAH!” Soonyoung exclaimed as he fell too. “JIHOON, ARE YOU OKAY?!”

But Jihoon wasn’t okay. He was hysterical. He began laughing like crazy into Soonyoung’s chest, trying to catch his breath every so often. His smile was so big he couldn’t feel his face. And that was okay. There wasn’t a kiss lingering there this time. No, this time, it was on Seungcheol’s face. He just kissed Seungcheol. And that made him want to scream. So he started laughing even louder.

Trying to hug his friend’s shaking body, Soonyoung was still so confused. “JIHOON!” he screamed, concerned for the lunatic in his arms. “ARE YOU OKAY?!”

“AH HAHAHAHA!” Jihoon cried.

“JIHOON!”

Finally, Jihoon managed to spit out, “I KISSED HIM!”

And as he went back to laughing and crying like a madman, his friend just kept holding him. Smiling, Soonyoung scoffed and looked off into the distance. “Wah, Jihoonie…”

“DON’T LAUGH AT ME!” Jihoon screamed, punching Soonyoung in the stomach.

Even with the surge of pain from the impact, Soonyoung laughed and hugged his friend tighter. He was used to Jihoon’s violence, but definitely not to this. This was a new Jihoon that Soonyoung had  _ never _ seen before, a giddy, love infected Jihoon. And it just made him so happy. Chuckling, he teased, “You are such a loser.”

Unable to contain his smile, Jihoon sighed into his chest and screamed, “SHUT UP!”


	6. Invite Him Over

“I cannot believe JIHOON'S the only one out of us in a relationship right now,” Hansol chuckled from the couch. “JIHOON!”

Jihoon swiveled around on his stool at the kitchen counter. “I’m right here, ya know.”

“And you’re IN A RELATIONSHIP!”

Everyone else laughed as Jihoon just rolled his eyes, taking a bite of his pizza. “I’m not ‘in a relationship,’” he clarified. “At least not yet.”

“What’re you talking about?” Junhui teased, plopping himself down next to Hansol. “This Seungcheol guy’s all you’ve been able to talk about for two weeks now.”

“That’s not true,” Jihoon argued, sharply glaring at his friend.

“UHH! EXCUSE ME!” Soonyoung shouted, shutting the fridge and coming over to look Jihoon in the eye. Slamming his hands down on the counter, he leaned forward and said, “Literally, the only things you’ve talked to me about SINCE you’ve met him are: if he can come over and how dreamy his eyes are.”

His friends all giggled as Jihoon’s shoulders sunk in. He leaned over his plate and angrily ate in the cave he formed with his arms. “I never said they were dreamy.”

“Might as well have,” Soonyoung laughed. He opened his root beer as he sat down next to Mingyu.

Minghao, sitting beside Jihoon, playfully shook his shoulder. “Ah, Jihoon. It’s okay. We’ve all felt love before.”

“I’m not in love with him!” Jihoon snapped.

But his reaction was too quick for the others not to make fun of him. “Come on, hyung!” Mingyu laughed. “We know you are.”

Jihoon scoffed and rolled his eyes. “We’re not even TOGETHER. How can I be in love with him?”

“Well, Mingyu doesn’t even talk to Wonwoo and he’s in love with him,” Soonyoung commented, pointing his thumb at him.

“YAH!” Mingyu exclaimed, smacking it away.

“You’re in love with our roommate?” Hansol asked, curiously staring at Mingyu.

“NO! I’M NOT!”

Minghao turned over and asked, “How do you know Wonwoo?”

Flustered, Mingyu threw his arms out and yelled, “Can we please focus on Jihoon’s love life right now?!”

Jihoon groaned, cupping his hand over his mouth as he chewed his food. “There is no love life!”

“Come on, Jihoon,” Junhui pushed.

But just then, there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll get it!” Jihoon immediately said, jumping down from his seat and heading over to answer it.

Hansol chuckled and leaned into Junhui to say, “I’ve never seen him so easily flustered.”

Junhui scoffed. “Are you kidding me? Any cute guy who looks his way can get him like this.”

“Psh, well  _ that _ I know. But THIS,” he said, pointing his pizza at Jihoon. “THIS is a whole nother level.”

Jihoon swiftly opened the door and smiled. “Hey Chan.”

“Hey!” Chan exclaimed as his friend made way for him to come in. Slipping out of his shoes, he eagerly greeted the others. “Hey guys!”

“Hey Chan!” everyone replied.

“Sorry I’m late. My study session went a little long,” he explained before running over to the pizza boxes. He lifted the lid and frowned, disappointed. “Guys! You could’ve at least saved me a slice!”

Soonyoung chuckled as the pouty Chan took the stool next to Minghao. “Sorry, kiddo. Try to get here before 8 next time.”

“Aish!” Chan hollered, kicking the counter.

Jihoon chuckled and picked up his plate. “Here, Chan. You can have mine. I didn’t eat that piece yet.”

Chan’s eyes sparkled as Jihoon handed it to him. “WAH! Thanks, hyung!” Taking a huge bite, he said with his mouth full, “Why’re you being so nice today?”

Jihoon was about to answer, but before he could say anything, Hansol cried out, “BECAUSE HE’S IN LOOOVE!”

“I AM NOT IN LOVE!” Jihoon shouted back as everyone laughed. Pertaining to his more violent nature, Jihoon stormed over to him, picked a pillow off the floor, and started pounding Hansol.

Everyone was in a fit as Hansol protected his face. “JUST ADMIT IT, HYUNG! ADMIT THAT YOU LOVE HIM!”

“I DON’T LOVE HIM!”

Clutching his stomach and dying of laughter, Soonyoung cried, “HE’S EVEN MORE DANGEROUS WHEN HE’S IN LOVE!”

“SHUT UP!” Jihoon twisted over and redirected his force to Soonyoung. As embarrassed as he was from all the teasing, Jihoon couldn’t help but wear a giant smile as he beat up his friend.

“Oh, Jihoon!” Junhui exclaimed, lunging forward and wrapping his arms around his waist. He pulled him backwards so he was now sitting on his lap. Hugging him, Junhui laughed, “You are so in love.”

Jihoon sighed, “How many times do I have to say I’m—”

“—completely in love with him,” Minghao interrupted.

“Guys, I’m not—”

“—ready to confess my feelings,” Mingyu finished for him.

“No, I—”

“—want Seungcheol to be my boyfriend,” Chan interjected.

“Stop—”

“—telling me what I already know,” Hansol added.

“Seriously—”

“—I can’t contain my love for him,” Soonyoung chimed.

Jihoon sighed and dropped his head. The others were just wearing huge, satisfied smiles, waiting for him to say something so they could continue their game. “Can you—”

“—get him to return my undying love,” Junhui snickered.

Jihoon glared at all of them. “Are you guy’s finished yet, because I'm—”

“—IN LOVE WITH SEUNGCHEOL!” they all shouted at the top of their lungs. Laughing hysterically, everyone was a mess as Jihoon released himself from Junhui and stood up. “I hate you all.”

He walked towards the fridge, leaving the storm of laughter behind him. “OH GOD, JIHOON! WE LOVE YOU TOO!” Mingyu shouted.

Chan smiled over at Jihoon as he leaned into the fridge. “So when do we all get to meet Seungcheol?”

“YEAH!” Junhui called out. “Chan and I still haven’t met him!”

“Minghao and I haven’t officially met him either,” Hansol said through his chuckles. “We’ve only seen him a few times in the elevator.”

“You should invite him over!” Soonyoung suggested, hopping up from his seat.

“Yeah!” everyone else cheered.

Jihoon scoffed and took his head out of the fridge. “OH, NO! NO! I am NOT letting him see you all like THIS!” Pointing his water bottle at all of them, he said, “I refuse to let him see this mess.”

“Come on!” Mingyu whined. “He’s been over before, Jihoonie! It’s not like this would be his first time!”

“Are you kidding me?! You’d kill him!”

“We’ll be good!” Minghao uttered, shining a bright smile. “We won’t tease you in front of him!”

Jihoon took a second to think about it before slamming the door. “No.”

“COME ON!” Hansol cried. “HE’S RIGHT ACROSS THE HALL!”

“NO!”

“Please!!!” Chan begged, clasping his hands together and pouting at him.

Jihoon walked past him and bopped him on the head. “NO!”

“JIHOON-AH!” Junhui hollered.

“NO!” Jihoon yelled one last time, raising his water bottle in the air as he headed to the bedroom to grab his phone.

As the others all sighed and groaned in disappointment, Soonyoung just smirked. “Fine. If you don’t invite him over,  _ I _ will.”

Jihoon immediately stopped in the doorway. He slowly turned around and glared at Soonyoung. “You wouldn’t dare,” he said slowly.

Soonyoung raised his eyebrow and responded maniacally, “Try me.”

Everyone in the room silently watched the stare down, their mouths gaping open in anticipation. And as Jihoon stood there, he scoffed. “You don’t have the balls.”

“We’ll see about that,” Soonyoung chuckled. Then he started to make his way towards the door.

“NO!” Jihoon screamed as he ran in front of him. But as he ran, Soonyoung made a dash for it. Luckily, Jihoon was just a little bit quicker. He barricaded the door with his body. “YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT!”

Laughing, Soonyoung put his hands on his hips. “You don’t want to do that, Jihoon.”

Before Jihoon could come back with any sort of remark, Soonyoung’s hands dove around Jihoon’s sides, tickling him intensely. Jihoon fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter, and so did the rest of the room. If you knew Jihoon at all, you would know that he was EXTREMELY ticklish and he hated being tickled more than anything in the world. And Soonyoung was doing his worst. Jihoon was screaming and smiling but his eyes were filled with rage. As he shook on the floor, he managed to yell, “I FUCKING HATE YOU!”

But Soonyoung refused to give in. “INVITE HIM OVER!” he demanded.

“NO! HAHAHAHAHAHHA!” Jihoon tried to pull Soonyoung’s hair, but he was too weak and his grip didn’t hold.

“CHAN, GET OVER HERE!”

Chan hopped down from his seat and assisted Soonyoung in the torture. “I’M GONNA KILL YOU BOTH!” Jihoon screamed, unable to open his eyes.

“INVITE HIM OVER!”

“NO!”

“DO IT!”

“NO!”

“WE’LL BE GOOD!”

“FUCK YOU AHAHAHHAHA! NO!”

“PLEASE!”

Jihoon was in tears and he honestly could not stand it anymore so he had to yell, “OKAY, FINE! JUST STOP! JUST FUCKING STOP!”

Immediately, Soonyoung and Chan threw their hands up. Chan ran from the scene of the crime but it was too late for Soonyoung. Jihoon lunged upwards and grabbed him by the shoulders. Shaking him vigorously as everyone else watched and laughed, Jihoon screamed, “I HATE YOU!”

But Soonyoung just kept laughing. He knew that secretly, however deep down, Jihoon was happy he got to invite Seungcheol over. Soonyoung knew he loved his friends and Seungcheol would too. After he was released, Soonyoung helped Jihoon up. Dusting himself off, he smiled. “We’ll be good.”

His hand on the doorknob, Jihoon glared back at his so-called friends. “I hate you all.”

But as all of this was going on, just across the hall, a very different conversation was taking place.


	7. Don't Want to Hurt Him

Seungcheol opened the door to find Wonwoo, holding a grocery bag. “What took you so long?” Seungcheol asked frantically as he let his friend in.

Lifting up the bag, Wonwoo replied, “I went to get snacks. Seokmin said you didn’t have any food.”

Shutting the door, Seungcheol sighed and leaned against it. “It’s fine, it’s fine.”

“Hey guys!” Wonwoo smiled as he placed the stuff on the counter.

“Hey!” Seungkwan and Seokmin chimed back.

“So what’s all of this about?” Wonwoo asked, looking back to Seungcheol.

“He’s having a crisis,” Seungkwan explained.

Wonwoo furrowed his eyebrows and fell into the couch next to the two of them. “About what?”

Seokmin shrugged. “We’ve been waiting for you. He hasn’t said anything yet.”

“Yes, and now that you’re all here,” Seungcheol said, rubbing his forehead and making his way over, “I can get this off my chest.”

“But, we’re not all here,” Seokmin pointed out. “Jeonghan and Jisoo aren’t here.”

Seungcheol sighed and stood in front of his friends. “It’s probably a good thing they aren’t.”

All of them glanced over at each other, confused. “Why?” Wonwoo asked.

Seungcheol began to pace back and forth, staring at the ground, battling with where to begin. His friends just waited, not sure what to anticipate. “Okay!” he finally blurted out. “Okay, okay, so…” He looked over at the three of them and felt his chest sink. “I haven’t told any of you guys this.”

On the edge of their seats, Seokmin uneasily replied, “Ooookkkkaaaayyyyy…”

Seungcheol sighed one last time before taking in a deep breath. Then, he let it all out. “I confessed to Jeonghan.”

Immediately, all of their faces changed. Wonwoo’s eyes grew to the size of his face. Seokmin’s head shot forward and his jaw fell open. Seungkwan’s shoulders fell and he dropped to his knees, smashing his hands on the coffee table in front of him. “WHAT?!!?!?!” he screamed.

Seungcheol took another deep breath and kept pacing. “I…”

“YOU WHAT?!” Seokmin interrupted.

“I…”

“WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK MAN!?!” Wonwoo shrieked, throwing his hands by his ears.

“WHAT?!?!?!” Seungkwan yelled again, unable to contain himself.

“AND YOU DIDN’T SAY ANYTHING?!!?” Seokmin shouted, jumping up on the couch.

“Guys…”

“I CANNOT—!”

“ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!”

“YOU FREAKIN—!”

“WHAT?!?!?!”

“GUYS!” Seungcheol finally screamed, covering his face and rushing over to the kitchen. All shocked eyes followed him. He leaned over his elbows above the kitchen counter. “I KNOW! I KNOW YOU ALL SHOULD BE FREAKING OUT!”

“YOU FUCKING _CONFESSED_!?” Wonwoo shouted, unable to wrap his head around what was happening.

Seungkwan stood up and went up to him. Standing behind him, he exclaimed, “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU HAVE TO CONFESS ABOUT?!”

Seungcheol groaned. He was drowning in his self-loathing body as he finally admitted to his friends what he had never told anyone except for Jeonghan himself. “I fell in love with Jeonghan.”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” Seokmin hollered.

“DUDE!” Wonwoo added.

“WHAT?!!?!?!”

“GUYS!” Seungcheol shouted again, flipping around and staring at them all with the most distraught look you could think of. “CAN YOU _PLEASE_ NOT FREAK OUT TOO MUCH? THIS IS REALLY HARD ALREADY!”

It took them a second, but his friends slowly closed their mouths and loosened their shoulders, trying to grasp what Seungcheol was telling them. Seeing them a bit more relaxed, Seungcheol nodded. “Thank you. Now, you all have a right to freak out, but I _really_ need your help on this one.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo said, softly. “Sorry about that, Seungcheol. It was just kinda…”

“Yeah, I know,” he sighed.

Seungkwan took a moment to make sure Seungcheol was ready before asking him anything else. He stepped beside him and leaned on the counter. “When did this happen?”

Seungcheol groaned and closed his eyes. “I confessed to him a few months ago.” He leaned his head down and chuckled pitifully into his chest. “But I was in love with him ever since we met.”

Seokmin sat back down and fell into the couch cushion, not sure how to respond. This was too foreign for all of them, but they had to be there for their friend. “Oh my god…” Wonwoo uttered.

“And you never told any of us?” Seungkwan pondered, concerned since he had never heard anything about this.

Seungcheol glumly shook his head. “No. No one knew.”

Seokmin turned to face him. “So…,” he calmly asked, “What happened?”

Blowing some air into his cheeks, Seungcheol hesitated before telling them the story. “It was a few months ago when I told him.” His friends all listened intensely as he continued. “Ever since...well, ever since I met Jeonghan, I always felt something there. I never really knew what, but it was always...something. So, Seungkwan knows this part, when we were in school, Jeonghan, Jisoo, and I all hung out a lot after school and on weekends. Jeonghan would stay at my house a lot cause we lived near each other. And I just…fell for him.” He took a second to catch himself. Everyone else kept listening sympathetically. “And it just kept getting worse. Every time I saw him, it felt like my heart was gonna fall out of my chest. Every time he smiled at me, I wanted to curl into a ball. Every freakin time we talked like we had talked for years, I would just stare at his damn lips and want to cry. And everything was even worse when we were living together. Seeing him every morning and every night. He was ALL I saw. And I was SO in love with him.”

He stopped for a moment. Seungkwan could see him slowly getting more upset, as if recounting all of these emotions was physically hurting him. He placed his hand on his back. “Seungcheol…”

But Seungcheol just turned and walked towards the door as he kept going. “I was so fucking in love with him! And I never said anything! EVER!” He was frantic, gripping his hair and screaming at the sky.

Concerned, Seokmin cautiously asked, “And then you decided to confess?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I decided to confess.”

They all took a minute to just sit in silence, Seungcheol trying to work through the load he just dumped on his friends and the others trying to grasp what was hidden for so long. Finally, Wonwoo said, “Wait…” Seungcheol looked up at him with sad, angry eyes. “You said this was a few months ago.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol nodded, knowing where this was going.

Wonwoo sat forward. “That was when…”

“...Jeonghan and Jisoo started going out,” Seokmin finished.

All of them waited for Seungcheol’s confirmation. And he nodded, sinking to the ground as he leaned against the door. “Yeah.”

“Seungcheol…” Seungkwan’s expression dropped as he looked to his friend, who was being eaten away by his own emotions.

“I confessed the same time Jisoo confessed,” Seungcheol admitted.

There was a pause before he kept going. “I confessed because…” He scoffed at himself, hurting inside from how ridiculous everything felt. Leaning his head against the door, he closed his eyes and said, “...because I wanted him to pick me over Jisoo.”

“Seungcheol…”

“But he didn’t!” Seungcheol blurted out, laughing at himself. Seungkwan glanced over at Seokmin and Wonwoo. They all wore the same concerned face. “I freakin told him everything an HOUR after he and Jisoo got together! A WHOLE FUCKING HOUR! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE HELL I WAS EXPECTING!” he cried out. “I told him everything! I confessed my freakin love for him and basically just threw every part of myself at him and was fucking hoping that he would just drop Jisoo and jump into my arms and we would live happily ever after!” Completely pissed, he buried his face in his hands as he mumbled, “And that obviously didn’t happen.”

Silence filled the room again as they all waited. Seungcheol breathed heavily into his hands and he knew this was why he needed his friends. He needed someone to pull him through all of this because there was no way he could do it all alone again. He sighed and dropped his hands. “Go ahead,” he said. “Ask your questions.”

Seungkwan was the first one to say anything. “Why are you telling us this now?”

“Is it because of Jihoon?” Wonwoo asked.

“Why are you two living together again?” Seokmin questioned.

“Does Jisoo know about this?”

“How are you and Jeonghan still talking?”

“Does Jihoon know?”

And seeing his expression fall even more, Wonwoo asked, “Are you okay, hyung?”

Seungcheol gave a weak smile and shook his head. “I’m not okay.” He sighed before answering everything else. “So after I confessed, Jeonghan moved out, as you guys know. He went to live with Jisoo. And without him, I couldn’t afford to pay the rent so I found a really small place pretty far from campus. Well, at the time, Jeonghan was still trying to make things...normal between us. In his mind, we were still friends and my confession was just a setback.” He scoffed before going on. “So, Jisoo’s place was also far from school and he found this apartment. He couldn’t afford it alone and asked me to move in with him as long as I felt okay with everything. Obviously, I couldn’t say I wasn’t okay, so I moved in.” Drawing circles on the ground with his finger, he sighed. “I knew it was a really dumb idea, but there was a small part of me that hoped if we lived together again, he could somehow…” He shook his head and clutched his knees.

Wonwoo’s eyebrows drooped as he asked, “Is that why you didn’t look for a place with me? All those times I was searching for somewhere to stay, you kept saying you were fine where you were. You were just holding out for the chance to be with Jeonghan again?”

Seungcheol slowly nodded. “I’m a horrible person. I wasn’t thinking about Jisoo or Jeonghan during all of that. I was just thinking about myself and how much I wanted him. It was so selfish and now I don’t know what to do.”

“So Jisoo doesn’t know about this,” Seokmin commented.

“No, Jeonghan never told him.”

There was another pause before Seungkwan sighed. He sank to the floor and sat with his legs crossed, leaning over his thighs. “So where does this put Jihoon?”

At the sound of Jihoon’s name again, Seungcheol felt his chest fall in on itself. A huge pang of guilt rushed through his body. “That’s why I’m telling you all this now. I don’t know what to do.”

Seokmin asked, “Well, you’re not still in love with Jeonghan, are you?”

“No,” Seungcheol immediately responded. But then he slowly added, “No...I…” he felt his eyes start to sting. “I don’t know,” he sighed.

“What about Jihoon?” Seungkwan firmly asked.

Seungcheol groaned and banged his head against the door. “That’s the problem!” Seungcheol exclaimed, throwing his arms up. “I met Jihoon! Jihoon, this amazing, wonderful person who I just found in the fucking hallway as I was moving in, thinking about how I would steal Jeonghan’s heart. Jihoon, this freakin awesome guy who makes me want to shoot myself for ever even thinking about Jeonghan. Jihoon, this fucking pretty boy across the hall who has no idea that the REASON I even live across from him is because I was in love with the guy I call my roommate!” Frustrated and exhausted, Seungcheol felt tears well up in his eyes. He sighed as he tried to calm himself down. “I... _really_ like Jihoon. I didn’t expect to be able to like anyone so much right now, but it happened. And now, I don’t know what to do.”

Silence.

“Do you want to be with him?” Wonwoo gently asked.

“I really do,” Seungcheol said, shutting his eyes again.

Silence.

“Do you want to be with Jeonghan?” Seokmin asked.

Silence.

Seungcheol shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Finally, Seungkwan softly asked, “Are you gonna tell him about Jeonghan?”

Seungcheol swallowed. His vision blurred from his tears, he looked up at the ceiling. His friend’s all watched him, now more sad than concerned. Knowing the situation made their hearts ache for him. And as Seungcheol blinked, the saltwater flowed out of his eyes and down the cheeks that Jihoon so adoringly kissed, not knowing what was wracking in Seungcheol’s brain. A quiver in his voice, Seungcheol whispered, leaning deeper against the door, “I don’t want to hurt him.”

But what Seungcheol didn’t know was that was already too late. Out in the hallway, Jihoon sat and silently cried. Sitting with his back against Seungcheol’s door, he felt his heart crack in his chest.

At the beginning of it all, he was giddy, coming out to knock on his door and invite him over to meet his annoying friends. But as Jihoon was about to knock, he heard Seungkwan’s familiar voice scream, “WHAT?!?!?!” Jihoon was so startled, he decided to listen in a bit just to see what all the commotion was about and whether it may not have been an appropriate time to interrupt. From then, he overheard everything, from Seungcheol’s undying love to his sorry confession to the reason why they even met. And as he listened, his whole body gave out. Every word that came out of Seungcheol’s mouth made him hurt, so much so that he had to sit down. But as much as it crushed him, Jihoon couldn’t pull himself away. He couldn’t believe what was happening and it was like Seungcheol became a stranger all over again. His eyes were as pink as his hair and he was no longer shaking from nervousness like he usually was when thinking about the pretty boy across the hall. He was shaking from sadness. From embarrassment. From disappointment.

And as he continued to sit there and torture himself, Jihoon heard Seungkwan on the other side say, “Jihoon’s amazing, hyung.”

And Jihoon’s heart finally broke as he heard Seungcheol softly reply, “Jeonghan’s amazing, too.”

That was all he could take. Jihoon stood up and quickly wiped the tears off his face. He immediately went back into his apartment and slammed the door behind him.

“HEY!” Junhui cheered from the couch. “WHERE’S SEUNGCHEOL!?”

The others all laughed as Jihoon stormed to the room without a word. As he was going by, Soonyoung noticed the water stains on his face. Instantly, his expression changed to the appropriate concern. He shot off the couch and jumped to block Jihoon’s path. “Hey, you okay?”

But Jihoon didn’t reply and walked right past him. He was in the doorway when Soonyoung grabbed his wrist. “Hey!” Jihoon twisted back to reveal himself. The rest of the room froze, surprised as Soonyoung slowly asked again, “You okay?”

But Jihoon just scoffed, letting a few tears escape. He raised his eyebrows at Soonyoung and flatly said, “Did you know you can hear really well through these doors?”

With that, he yanked himself free and slammed the bedroom door shut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like i owe you all an apology! a lot of people said they love this story cause its so cute and fluffy AND IM SO SORRY I DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED CAUSE ITS AN ANGST NOW I HOPE YOU STILL LIKE IT IM VERY SORRY


	8. Through the Door

“JIHOON!” Mingyu yelled as he pounded on the door. “We share a bedroom! You can’t just lock yourself in there!”

Soonyoung, who was sleeping on one side of their L-shaped couch, groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes. “He’s still not letting us in?”

Mingyu sighed and turned to him. “It’s been two days and I swear he hasn’t left that room. How is that even possible?”

Soonyoung sighed, shaking his head. “Something happened the other night.”

Mingyu came back over and sat on his portion of the couch. Leaning his head back, he said, “I hope he’s okay.”

“Obviously he’s not.”

Mingyu straightened up and looked to Soonyoung. “What can we do?”

Soonyoung took a deep breath before getting up and heading for the bathroom. Yawning, he suggested, “Maybe we should ask Seungcheol. It definitely had to do with him.”

“Is that really a good idea, though?” Mingyu questioned. “We don’t know him all that well and Jihoon doesn’t seem like he wants to talk about it.”

“Yeah, but we can’t just let him stay in there.” Soonyoung stepped into the bathroom and turned on the sink. Washing his face, he said, “We have to do something.”

From the living room, Mingyu tried to think of anything they could do for him. “Maybe we should get him some coffee.”

“What?” Soonyoung uttered as he splashed his face.

“He gets coffee _every_ morning from downstairs. He’s missed the past two mornings. You know Jihoon, he’s probably dying for some caffeine,” Mingyu pointed out.

Drying himself with the towel, Soonyoung looked back out at him. “That’s not a bad idea.”

Mingyu scoffed and joined him in the bathroom. “Of course it isn’t.”

Soonyoung rolled his eyes and made room for both of them to brush their teeth. “We’ll go down and get him his coffee.”

Mingyu nodded and asked, “What do you think he’s doing in there?”

Soonyoung had been thinking that ever since he locked the door. “Probably crying,” he thought to himself. He sighed just worrying about his friend and what could have happened. “Let’s hope he’s sleeping,” Soonyoung finally decided.

“At least _that_ would be typical of him,” Mingyu agreed.

After they finished freshening up and threw on the same clothes they had been wearing for two days, Mingyu and Soonyoung made their way to Akkinda Coffee Shop. In the elevator, Soonyoung pressed the button and leaned against the side as they made their descent. As the two of them traveled downwards, Soonyoung looked to Mingyu and furrowed his eyebrows. He crossed his arms and asked, “So what’s up with you and Wonwoo?”

“Oh my god…,” Mingyu started, sticking his tongue into his cheek and staring up at the floor numbers. “Are you seriously asking that right now?”

Soonyoung shrugged. “Can’t tease Jihoon’s relationship these days. I’m sure he’d also like to know what’s going on between you two.”

Mingyu scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I cannot believe you,” he said in an accusatory voice.

“What?” Soonyoung laughed as the elevator _dinged_ and they walked out. “I want something to tell Jihoon when he finally opens the door for us. Tell me, for him,” Soonyoung insisted.

Mingyu sighed as they made their way through the front door and out onto the sidewalk. Zipping his jacket up, he said, “I know him like you guys do. We met in a class.”

“Okay, but what else?”

“There’s nothing else!” Mingyu asserted.

But Soonyoung just laughed. “Why’re you so adamant on not telling us?!”

Mingyu groaned as he opened the coffee house door. “Some things you guys just don’t need to know.”

Soonyoung chuckled and was about to come back with some witty remark, but he didn’t get the chance. As they stepped inside, they found Seungkwan standing behind the front register and Seungcheol leaning over the counter. When the opening bell went off, Seungcheol immediately straightened up and turned around. Soonyoung and Mingyu didn’t know how to react, but Seungcheol looked at them, concerned. “Soonyoung! Mingyu!” he called out.

Soonyoung flashed a polite smile and walked over to them. “Hey Seungcheol. Hey Seungkwan.”

Seungkwan smiled and nodded. “Hi guys.”

“Hey,” Seungcheol replied, breathing through his words. He took a second as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. “Where’s Jihoon?” he finally asked. “I haven’t heard anything from him the past two days. I came over a few times, but no one answered.”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung sighed. “He’s locked himself in his room.”

“What?!” Seungcheol exclaimed, worry written all over his face. “Why?!”

Soonyoung and Mingyu glanced at each other, completely confused. “Wait,” Mingyu started, furrowing his eyebrows. “You don’t know what happened?”

Seungcheol looked over at Seungkwan and they both shared the others’ expressions. “No,” he said, uneasily. “I’ve been trying to text him but he’s said nothing. _Should_ I know?”

Soonyoung tried to find the right words to explain, since he wasn’t expecting no one to know what was going on with Jihoon. “Well, he’s been locked up in his room since he went to get you the other night.”

Even more confused, Seungcheol scrunched his nose. “What? He never came and got me. I haven’t seen him since our last date a few days ago. We’ve been texting back and forth, but he hasn’t said anything for days now. I came here hoping he would stop by,” he explained.

“Really?” Soonyoung remarked, completely unsure of the situation. “Are you sure you didn’t talk to him?”

“Yes, one hundred percent,” Seungcheol affirmed.

Seungkwan looked to Mingyu and asked, “He’s been in his room for the past two days?”

Mingyu nodded. “He won’t come out. He was just really upset after coming back from Seungcheol’s place.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Seungcheol said frantically, throwing his hand up and trying to understand what was going on. “He _never_ came over to see me.”

“That’s what he said he was doing,” Soonyoung said. “He went across the hall to invite you over, but he didn’t come back for a while and when he did, he looked like he had been crying.”

“He was crying?!” Seungcheol was so concerned as he listened. He threw his hand into his hair as he thought. “But I never saw him!”

Seungkwan thought too, with his eyebrows furrowed until his eyes grew wide. He immediately gripped Soonyoung’s shoulder and asked, “You said this was the other night?!”

A little surprised, Soonyoung rapidly nodded. “Yeah, it was, like, three nights ago when we had a bunch of friends over.”

Seungkwan quickly turned to Seungcheol and watched as his face expressed the same horror. “THREE NIGHTS AGO?!” Seungcheol shrieked.

“Yeah,” Mingyu instantly replied, looking even more concerned. “Why? What happened?”

“No no no no no no,” Seungcheol mumbled, trying to catch his breath. “Oh my god, please, no no no no…”

“Seungcheol, what happened?” Soonyoung asked, leaning forward to read his face.

But Seungcheol was now in a panic. “Dear god! No! Oh my god! OH MY GOD! ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME?!” His hands shot up by his ears as he started pacing back and forth. “NO! NO! NO!”

“What happened?” Soonyoung turned to Seungkwan, but he was clearly too concerned about Seungcheol to pay attention.

“Seungcheol!” Seungkwan cried, leaning over the counter to get his friend back to sanity. “Seungcheol!”

“What did he say?!” Seungcheol immediately turned back to Soonyoung and Mingyu, who both had no idea what was going on or how horrible the situation really was. “Did he say anything before he locked himself in his room?!”

“Uhh,” Mingyu thought it over real quick.

But Soonyoung remembered off the top of his head. “He said something like, ‘You know you can hear really well through these doors?’”

Seungcheol’s heart sunk into his stomach. “Oh my god…” He smacked his forehead and leaned his back into the counter before collapsing to the floor. His brain was exploding with sheer panic. Three nights ago he was talking to his friends about his Jeonghan situation and how bad it was. He was telling them about his deepest feelings and deepest concerns. He was addressing all of the things that Jeonghan made him feel and why he couldn’t tell Jihoon. But obviously now that didn’t matter. Jihoon heard. “He heard,” Seungcheol whispered, staring blankly out in front of him.

Soonyoung and Mingyu both watched him from above. “Heard what?” Soonyoung asked, creasing his forehead.

“I—” Seungcheol glanced up at them apologetically. “I can’t tell you.” He shook his head and pressed his hands to his face. “I’m sorry.”

Mingyu could understand why Seungcheol didn’t want to explain the entire situation, but he was still working for Jihoon’s best interest. “We shouldn’t be the ones you apologize to.”

Near tears as he felt all of the worry build up inside of him, Seungcheol glanced up and exclaimed, “You’re right!” He shot to his feet and frantically said, “Can I _PLEASE_ borrow a key to your apartment?!” he asked, eagerly sticking out his hand and looking back and forth from Soonyoung to Mingyu.

“Why do you—”

“You said he’s locked up! He’s never gonna open the door for me!”

Soonyoung and Mingyu were both uneasy. They knew that if whatever Seungcheol had said was really that bad, then letting him get close to Jihoon wasn’t the best idea. But at the same time, Seungcheol could possibly be the solution that they so desperately needed. Knowing Jihoon, Seungcheol would definitely be the better choice between him and a cup of coffee to cheer him up.

Sensing their reluctance, Seungcheol exhaled through his nose. “I know I must seem like the worst person in the world right now,” he admitted. He stared into Soonyoung’s eyes with genuine distress. “But please, PLEASE, let me go talk to him! I need to explain, I need to—he needs to—I just—.” he sighed and tried to catch his breath. “He needs to be okay.”

Seeing his desperation, Soonyoung could sense that Seungcheol was being completely honest and that he was really concerned for Jihoon. With one last glance, Soonyoung sighed and reached into his back pocket. “Here,” he said, placing it in the palm of Seungcheol’s hand. “You better fix him,” Soonyoung said, firmly.

Seungcheol flashed a grateful smile and nodded. Shaking the key as he ran towards the door, “Thank you! Thank you!”

“YOU BETTER FIX HIM!” Soonyoung repeated as Seungcheol bolted out of the shop and towards the apartment building. When he was out of sight, Soonyoung sighed again and turned back to Seungkwan and Mingyu. “Do you think he can get Jihoon back?”

Seungkwan and Mingyu both thought for a second. “I don’t know,” Mingyu slowly replied.

Soonyoung nodded slightly. Seeing their lack of confidence in Jihoon’s ability to bounce back from a situation they weren’t even fully aware of, Seungkwan added, “I think you guys can have faith in Seungcheol.”

“But wasn’t it Seungcheol who got him there in the first place?” Mingyu questioned.

With that in mind, Seungkwan shrunk a little. He sighed and, before they even asked, he started punching Jihoon’s usual order into the machine. “Seungcheol has a way of taking care of those he really cares about. I think he can get Jihoon back.”

“And if he can’t?” Soonyoung asked, definitely concerned.

Seungkwan sighed. “Then this order’s on the house.”

Meanwhile, Seungcheol was already in the elevator, impatiently tapping his foot as he passed each floor. He couldn’t fully grasp what was going on, but all he knew was that he fucked up. He ruined everything. Jihoon heard. Jihoon heard about Jeonghan. Jihoon heard about how he loved Jeonghan. Jihoon heard about how he wanted to be with Jeonghan. And now he was locked up in a room, refusing to speak to anyone because of what Seungcheol said. Putting himself in Jihoon’s shoes, Seungcheol could only imagine the pain that he must have went through hearing all of those terrible things. And that just made Seungcheol want to rip his skin off. The whole point was to not hurt Jihoon. And that’s exactly what he ended up doing.

As the elevator doors opened, Seungcheol flew through them and down the halls until he was in front of apartment 917B. He hastily fit the key through the lock and swung the door open. “JIHOON!” he screamed upon entrance. “JIHOON!” He ran over to the bedroom door and began rapidly knocking. “JIHOON, PLEASE!”

On the other side, Jihoon’s eyes flew open. He had been laying there for...who know’s how long. It was all a blur to him now. As his eyes widened, he felt the dried up tears crust in the corners of his lids and the water on his cheeks cling to his skin even as he tried to wipe it off. The past three nights had been spent just laying there, either crying at the ceiling or crying with his eyes closed. He tried his best not to whimper too loudly so the others wouldn’t hear him, but a part of him didn’t care. He was far too hurt to care. Three nights ago, he heard everything he wasn’t supposed to. He heard about Jeonghan. He heard about how much Seungcheol loved Jeonghan. He heard about how Seungcheol wanted to be with Jeonghan. And now he was locked up in his room, refusing to move or think about anything else. The pain from hearing all of those terrible things was unimaginable. But it hurt so bad that Jihoon was forced to call it reality. And now, he was being thrown even more reality.

“JIHOON! JIHOON! PLEASE, LET ME TALK TO YOU, JIHOON PLEASE!” Seungcheol begged from the other side. “I NEED TO TALK TO YOU! PLEASE, JIHOON!”

Usually, Jihoon would just continue to lay on his top bunk and ignore whoever was at the door. But it was Seungcheol and hearing his voice made Jihoon’s heart ache. It was a horrific feeling and Jihoon needed it to go away. “Leave me alone,” he flatly said, stepping down from his bed’s ladder.

Seungcheol gave a small sigh of relief after just hearing Jihoon at all. “Jihoon,” he said again, but softer. “Please, let me talk to you.”

Jihoon hesitated, feeling a quiver in his throat. He refused to let Seungcheol hear how weak he was at the moment. “No,” he said coldly.

Seungcheol closed his eyes and felt a sting in his chest. Placing his hand on the door, he gently said, “Jihoon, let me explain…”

“No!” Just then the door flew open, and Seungcheol’s heart gave out as soon as he saw Jihoon’s face. Puffy-eyed and red-nosed, Jihoon looked like all he had been doing was crying. And that was true. Seungcheol wanted nothing more than to wrap the boy in his arms and squeeze him out of his sadness, but he knew that was impossible, especially since this was all his fault.

Jihoon stared up at Seungcheol’s distraught expression and desperately wanted to hit him. Everything about his presence was painful in that moment, but seeing him was so much worse than Jihoon had imagined. The last time Jihoon had physically seen Seungcheol, he thought he was the greatest guy in the world and seemed like he couldn’t possibly hurt anyone. The last time he had seen Seungcheol, they were smiling and laughing and enjoying each other’s company. But as he stood and saw Seungcheol now, he felt as if he were standing with a completely different person.

As Jihoon glared, he firmly said, “I’m done listening to you through doors.”

Seungcheol felt a lump form in his throat as Jihoon got ready to slam the door shut again. But as a reflex, Seungcheol shoved his foot between the frame and the door, not letting it close. “Then listen to me now! Please, Jihoon!”

Jihoon wasn’t having it, but he opened the door a bit wider. “No.”

“Jihoon, I’m so—”

“No!” Jihoon interrupted.

“But, Jihoon, please, I—!”

“NO!” Jihoon shouted. “NO! NO!” He took a moment to let Seungcheol stop pushing. Seungcheol looked beyond worried, but all he could do was stand there and listen. “No,” Jihoon said one more time. He could feel the tears coming back as it became hard to swallow. He glanced down at the ground before he continued to speak. “You lied to me…”

Seungcheol ached but he knew this wasn’t the time to interrupt so he let Jihoon keep talking. “You _lied_ to me about what was going on between you and Jeonghan. You tried to cover everything up and when I gave you the chance to tell me the relationship you two had, you purposely avoided the subject. You’ve been in love with him since the day you met him and now you live with him in the hopes you two can get together.” Hearing himself say those words made Jihoon’s heart sting.

And Seungcheol’s. He stood there and fought back tears as he listened to Jihoon’s take on his words. And unfortunately, he couldn’t argue with their accuracy. Jihoon, still refusing to look at the boy from across the hall, shook his head and gave up trying to cover up his quivering tone. His voice shaking, he kept going. “You didn’t even bother to tell me any of this! You thought that if you just pretended nothing ever happened, I would never have to know and you could basically have me AND Jeonghan!”

“But that’s not it at all!” Seungcheol tried to point out.

But Jihoon wasn’t having it. He scoffed and finally looked up at him. Tears flowing from his eyes again, he angrily whispered, “The reason we met...was because you moved in here...to try and be with Jeonghan. Did I get that fact right? Or wrong?”

Backed into a corner, Seungcheol just stared at him for a moment, his mouth hanging open and his eyebrows drooping inwards. He couldn’t save himself from the horrible answer to this question because everything Jihoon was saying was true. “Jihoon-ah, how much of that conversation did you hear?”

But Jihoon didn’t answer. “Am I right or am I wrong?”

“Please Jihoon,” Seungcheol begged. “How much did you hear?”

Sad and pissed and hurt, Jihoon bit his bottom lip and recalled the conversation that he had been replaying in his mind for the past two days. “I heard from Seungkwan screaming ‘what’...” he paused for a second to cry a little harder. “...to ‘Jeonghan’s amazing, too.’”

Seungcheol felt his body giving out as his brain filled with way too much information. His own tears were starting to build up as he desperately tried to spit out anything that could make this heartbreaking situation better. Flushed with worry, he wanted nothing more than to explain what Jihoon didn’t know. “Jihoon! You didn’t hear the whole—!”

“Am I right or am I wrong?” Jihoon asked, returning to the question that was never answered.

Failing to keep his composure, Seungcheol leaned forward and tried to get close to Jihoon’s face. “But, Jihoon! You missed part—!”

“AM I RIGHT OR AM I WRONG?!” Jihoon finally screamed, his voice shaking from his sobs and his hand rattling against the doorknob.

Seungcheol was basically hovering right above him as he stared up at him, desperately waiting for an answer. And as much as he wanted to say the opposite of the truth, he knew Jihoon already had that information. Anything he said would only make it worse. Staring deep into Jihoon’s eyes, Seungcheol looked for any ounce of compassion or sympathy. But he couldn’t find any.

Finally, with a deep sigh, Seungcheol looked down at the ground, slumped his shoulders, and quietly replied, “You’re right.”

And with that, Jihoon slammed the door shut in Seungcheol’s face, grazing the tip of his nose. Before he could make it back to his bed, Jihoon sank to the floor and leaned against the door as he softly cried. His whole body gave out as he hurt all over again. It seemed to him that Seungcheol always created some sort of deja vu. At first, the only repeated scenes were those of pure excitement and warm anticipation. He never thought it would be possible to recreate how awful he felt the other night. But he was obviously wrong. He was reliving that horrible night in the comfort of his own room.

On the other side, Seungcheol didn’t know what to do. He knew he failed to explain anything to Jihoon. He failed to even apologize to Jihoon. But as he stood there with the door in his face, he knew the worst thing he could do would be to try and talk to Jihoon through the door. Jihoon was done hearing anything Seungcheol had to say through a door. After a moment in near shock, Seungcheol finally stepped back. He took one last glance at Jihoon’s shut door before backing out of the apartment, tossing Soonyoung's key on the counter, closing the front door behind him, and heading into his own.

And the second after he shut it, Seungcheol burst into tears. He leaned against the front door and sank to the ground, feeling a sense of deja vu from three nights ago. But somehow, he felt even worse than he had then. It was awful how everything turned out. He didn’t make Jihoon feel better. He didn’t truly get to talk to him. He didn’t get to apologize to him. And as Seungcheol sat there, water flowing down his cheeks and dripping off his chin, he closed his eyes and said aloud the worst part of all…

“He didn’t hear the whole conversation.”


	9. Rest of the Conversation

A quiver in his voice, Seungcheol whispered, leaning deeper against the door, “I don’t want to hurt him.”

Sobbing, Jihoon sat and listened intensely. And as he continued to sit there and torture himself, Jihoon heard Seungkwan on the other side say, “Jihoon’s amazing, hyung.”

And Jihoon’s heart finally broke as he heard Seungcheol softly reply, “Jeonghan’s amazing, too.”

That was all he could take. Jihoon stood up and quickly wiped the tears off his face. He immediately went back into his apartment and slammed the door behind him. But the conversation continued.

Seungkwan roughly sighed and looked over to Wonwoo and Seokmin. They all looked so distraught. But Seungcheol was the worst sight of all. Even so, in a time like this, he needed someone like Seungkwan. “Hyung,” he firmly said.

Breathing slowly, he replied, “Mm.” His body felt like it was about to crumble.

“ _Jihoon’s_ amazing,” he emphasized.

“I know,” Seungcheol agreed without opening his eyes. “I know that way too well.” Pulling his hair back with his fingers, he let his hands rest on the top of his skull. “It’s just...I’ve spent so long loving Jeonghan. I don’t know if...it’s okay for me to fall for someone else so easily.”

Pausing for a second, Seokmin furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “What do you mean?”

Eyes still shut and heart aching, Seungcheol explained, “I mean Jeonghan’s really great. And I’ve been so fucking infatuated by him for the past six...seven years. And I _really_ thought that I needed to be with him, so much so that I agreed to move in with him even after he flat out rejected me. I truly believed that we should be together…” He took a second to drop his head and let his tears fall. “But Jihoon makes me rethink all of that.” Swallowing the lump in his throat, he hesitated to add, “And it’s so scary.”

“But isn’t that a good thing?” Wonwoo questioned. “You and Jeonghan can’t be together, so falling for Jihoon makes that a non-issue, doesn’t it? You and Jihoon can be happy together.”

Seungcheol finally revealed his pink eyes as he tried to find the right words to express his confused heart. He hurt just thinking about everything. With one last sigh, he answered Wonwoo. “I’ve known Jeonghan for so long and I’ve always felt so strongly about him. He...shook my core and became that _thing_ that was so amazing, all I could do was reach out for it. But I could never grab it. And even though that thing would never be mine, I still couldn’t let go or move on.” And then, as the tears continued to fall, a small smile creeped out of the corner of Seungcheol’s lips. “And then Jihoon came along. I’ve only known him for two weeks and he’s already making me this crazy!” he frantically exclaimed, completely overwhelmed. “I loved Jeonghan in a way that made me want to explode. It was suffocating and nauseating and painful. But Jihoon makes me feel none of those things! He makes me feel like I’m floating and that I could die from laughing too hard! My chest never feels like it’s gonna collapse when I’m with him, but instead it fills with air and life and just pure excitement! For the forever I’ve known and loved Jeonghan, he’s _never_ made me feel the way Jihoon does now! And I don’t know what to do!”

Silence.

Seungcheol, who was becoming hysterical, sat up a bit as his friends watched him. And as if a signal went off, they all realized that THIS was what Seungcheol _really_ needed help with.

“So that’s what you’re afraid of?” Seungkwan asked. “You’re afraid to love Jihoon because...you’ve just been in love with Jeonghan for so long?”

Covered in sweat from his pain and tears from his hurt, Seungcheol kept going. “Jihoon is a complete stranger compared to Jeonghan! But he makes me _feel_ so much better than Jeonghan ever did! I don’t know if it’s because he’s single and attainable that makes me this insane or if it’s something so much more real!”

Standing up, Seungcheol had to grab the doorknob to support his weak legs. His body didn’t feel stable, but he needed to get up. “But...it’s just TOO crazy to believe that my feelings for him can be so strong so fast! Jeonghan has always been the person I loved, and all of a sudden this pink-haired, blush-flashing, dimple-wearing THING appears at my doorstep and I FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM!? DOES THAT MAKE _ANY_ SENSE?!”

But before his friends could answer, Seungcheol abruptly opened the front door. Slamming it back against the wall, he stared across the empty hallway at apartment 917B. From the five feet between the two homes, he threw his arm out and weakly whispered, “He makes me question everything I ever knew about love. He makes me forget Jeonghan whenever I’m with him. He makes me so nervous and so happy, it’s terrifying. And he’s right behind that door.”

Seokmin, Wonwoo, and Seungkwan waited as Seungcheol just stood and gazed out at Jihoon’s door.

“I don’t know if I’m still in love with Jeonghan,” Seungcheol softly continued, his throat shaking. “I don’t know if I want to be with Jeonghan...because Jihoon makes me question everything I ever felt for Jeonghan. Jihoon makes me rethink what love really is. In my mind, it’s not a question of being with Jeonghan or being with Jihoon. In my mind, it’s a question of loving the way I’ve always known...or loving in a way that’s so different, yet so much more rewarding. And I’m so scared that if he knew all of this...it would scare him away. I don’t want to hurt him, but if he knew...I don’t know if he’d ever want to be with me.” Taking in a deep breath, Seungcheol blinked. Still staring at Jihoon’s door, he let it out. “But at the same time, I wish he knew...how hard I’m falling for him.”


	10. Baby Steps

“Seungkwan, this is so bad,” Seungcheol groaned as he paced back and forth.

Seungkwan, who was sitting on the park bench casually finishing up his ice cream, sighed and said, “It really is.”

“UGHHHH! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!” Seungcheol screamed to the sky.

Some people passing by glanced over at Seungcheol with scared looks, but Seungkwan just smiled and waved them off. “Hyung, we need to make a plan.”

Seungcheol scoffed, throwing his hands on his hips. “How is a stupid plan gonna help me here?! Jihoon refuses to talk to me and he thinks that I’m still in love with Jeonghan! He won’t even let me explain what happened to him!”

Seungkwan couldn’t tell if his friend was sad or angry at this point, so he decided to go with “upset” to fit somewhere in between. “Look, hyung, I know you’re upset. This is _really_ bad, I know.”

“I’ve been at home crying for four days! You better know!”

“Hyung…”

“This is the first time I’ve seen the freakin’ sun in over half a week! This is the first time I’ve talked to someone since Jihoon shut me out! Jeonghan thinks I’m going through depression or something and my professors think I’m just ditching classes now! Everything seems to be crumbling at my feet and I don’t even have the capacity to cry about it anymore!” Seungcheol frantically yelled.

Waiting a second to make sure his friend was done talking, Seungkwan let out a deep breath. “Okay, hyung, I know it seems like everything’s horrible right now, but let’s try and tackle the root of all your problems.”

“Yes. Please.”

“Jihoon.”

Seungcheol stopped walking and held his tongue. Just focusing his attention on the boy he feared losing made Seungcheol squirm in his skin. He felt the lump in his throat but quickly shoved it away, reminding himself that he’d have plenty of time to cry later. Right now was dedicated to feeling better. And, stupidly enough, making that plan Seungkwan suggested. “Right.” He sighed and slowly made his way over to sit down beside Seungkwan. “Right.”

“We need a plan,” Seungkwan repeated, taking the last few bites of his cone before wiping his hands on his jeans. “We need a course of action.”

Seungcheol closed his eyes and listened. “Okay.”

Seungkwan glanced over and could easily read the stress written all over Seungcheol’s face. Trying his best not to show his worry for his friend, Seungkwan calmly asked, “What do you want to do here, hyung?”

Seungcheol scoffed. “What kind of a question is that?”

“I mean, what do you want to happen between you and Jihoon?” Seungkwan clarified.

“Well, isn’t it obvious?” Seungcheol replied slightly annoyed, tilting his head back and letting his closed eyes look upwards. Images of the boy he ached for flashed in his head. Jihoon smiling. Jihoon laughing. Jihoon blushing. “I want to be with Jihoon.”

“But that’s too broad right now,” Seungkwan pointed out. “He’s not even talking to you, how do you expect him to go out with you?”

Seungcheol slowly nodded, realizing his friend was right. “Baby steps, then?” Seungcheol asked.

“Baby steps.”

Seungcheol rubbed his forehead and leaned over his knees. “Fine,” he said into the ground. He thought it over for a second and tried to figure out what he truly wanted to happen with Jihoon. Then, with that in mind, he had to shrink it into the tiniest possible goal. With a sigh, Seungcheol finally said, “I want Jihoon...to look at me.”

Leaning over to get a better look at Seungcheol’s face, Seungkwan raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

Seungcheol immediately shot backwards, eyes flying open and arms flailing in the air. “WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT’S IT?! YOU JUST SAID BABY STEPS!”

Quickly realizing his mistake, Seungkwan threw up his hands in defense. “OKAY! OKAY! YOU’RE RIGHT I’M SORRY! THAT’S GREAT HYUNG! YES! SEE, THIS IS POSSIBLE! The plan is forming!”

Seungcheol groaned and turned away from Seungkwan. “You’re so dumb.”

“I’m helping you and you need me!” Seungkwan retorted, smiling smugly. “Okay, so you want him to look at you. How’re you gonna do that?”

Stopping just to breath, Seungcheol blankly looked out into the distance. “I have no idea,” he sighed. “That’s kind of the issue. He’s nowhere to be found.”

“He literally lives right across—”

“I KNOW WHERE HE LIVES!” Seungcheol quickly interrupted. “OF COURSE I KNOW WHERE THE FUCK HE LIVES! I meant I haven’t seen him around! He’s probably purposely avoiding me!”

“So, you have to catch him.”

Seungcheol groaned again, rolling his head to look back at Seungkwan. “And how am I supposed to do that?”

“Well, when you guys were first getting to know each other, you learned a lot about what he does right?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“So you kind of know his schedule.”

Glaring at him in the corner of his eye, Seungcheol dropped his jaw just a bit. “You want me to stalk him?”

Seungkwan put his hands up like a balancing scale. “Not ‘stalk,’ more like…”

“I can’t stalk him.”

“Not stalk! Just…” Seungkwan was trying to find the right way to phrase it. “Just, be in the right place at the right time. Like in the mornings, you know he comes to the coffee shop. Well, then, just get up early and wait for him there.”

Seungcheol pursed his lips thinking about this. “But you said yourself he hasn’t been coming lately.”

“True,” Seungkwan nodded. “But that’s just an example. Obviously, he probably changed that part of his routine since I’m there and everything. But, what about the rest of his life? Do you know his classes?”

Seungcheol thought it over real quick and a small smile came on his face. He looked down at his hands as he said, “Econ 205, Music Theory 101, Literature Year 2, and World History 410.” Chuckling a bit, he smiled, “Yeah, I know his classes.”

“Then stay around them.”

“But we’ve never run into each other on campus before. He’ll know I’m tracking him.”

“So?” Seungkwan said. “What does that matter? You like him and he likes you. I doubt the first thing that’ll run through his mind’ll be ‘Oh woah, I wonder what Seungcheol’s doing here?’ if you find him. He’ll probably be thinking…”

“He’ll probably be thinking, ‘When is this guy gonna leave me alone?’” Seungcheol sighed coming to the possibility that Jihoon may never be okay with him. Just thinking about that made him feel like he was being punched in the gut. “He clearly doesn’t want me to bother him, Seungkwan.”

Gently, Seungkwan said, “But you want to see him.”

“But is it really all about what I want?” Seungcheol realized. “What if he wants to move on and let go? Can I seriously just sit here and think about what I want? That’s exactly what I did with Jeonghan and look where we are.”

“But you said it the other night,” Seungkwan commented. “Jihoon’s not Jeonghan.” Seungcheol leaned back and listened closely to his friend. “You said that Jihoon makes you feel things Jeonghan never did. Maybe before you were going about things wrong, but this time, it may be acceptable not to let go. And, honestly, I don’t think Jihoon’s ready to let go either. If he was, he would just walk past you in the halls and not be afraid to come to Akkinda. He would just live life the way he used to. But he’s clearly not over you and that might be because he doesn’t want to let go.”

Seungcheol watched the leaves sway in the wind as Seungkwan continued. “And remember, he doesn’t know the full story. He deserves to know everything before he can truly move on. And it’s YOUR job to make sure he gets all the information he needs to make a decision. Granted, it could be a somewhat long process, but let’s start with getting him to look at you. Seungcheol, you have to find him. You have to ‘stalk’ him, but not in a creepy way. You have to fight for him.”

Seungcheol took a deep breath and thought it all over. More pictures of Jihoon raced through his brain. Jihoon sitting on the ground in front of his apartment. Jihoon sitting on his floor the first day they met. Jihoon sitting at the front counter with him on their first date. Jihoon sitting on his bed chatting away. “That kid does a lot of sitting,” he thought to himself. And then he paused as one more thought popped into his mind: Jihoon sitting...waiting for Seungcheol to find him. “You’re right,” Seungcheol finally said. “You’re right. I’ll find him.”

“Good,” Seungkwan smiled. “You’ll find him…”

“...and get him to look at me,” Seungcheol grinned.

Laughing a little, Seungkwan was happy to see Seungcheol cheer up even the slightest bit. “That’s the plan.”

“Thanks Seungkwan.”

“I’m just doing my job,” he said as he wrapped his arm around Seungcheol’s shoulder. “I bet wherever he is right now, Jihoon’s probably thinking about you.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol scoffed. “Thinking about how awful I am. I can’t believe I managed to screw this up so fast.”

“Isn’t that a theme with you and Jihoon though? Things tend to happen fast?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t want this to happen at all! It’s one thing to have stuff happen quickly. It’s another to have them come up when they never had to. I could’ve dealt with this so much better if…”

“If what?” Seungkwan pushed.

Seungcheol sighed again and rubbed his cheeks. “I don’t know. If…”

Seungkwan waited for him to finish his sentence, but the end never came. “Hyung, I seriously don’t think this could’ve gone well no matter the circumstances.”

“Oh come on,” Seungcheol groaned. “I bet I could’ve let him know all of this without hurting him so badly.” But he struggled to think of a way where he could.

“No, no,” Seungkwan shook his head. “I think this was inevitable.”

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow and questioningly looked at his friend. “What? You think I was bound to hurt Jihoon no matter what?”

Seungkwan sighed and leaned his head against Seungcheol’s as he looked outwards. “Kind of. Based on this huge backstory of yours, whoever you ended up with would’ve gotten hurt by it. And that’s not your fault, it’s your history’s. He would’ve eventually found out and we’d be here, just maybe later in the future.”

Annoyed with how right all of this sounded, Seungcheol bit his bottom lip. “That’s not fair.”

“It’s not, but at least we’re dealing with the problem early,” Seungkwan suggested. “You and Jihoon never even got together, but you know you want him back. Your feelings are so strong and it’s only the beginning. So, if you guys can get through this, you can get through anything.”

Seungcheol grinned a little, thinking of that wonderfully positive hypothetical. But as reality sunk in, he knew there was another way things could go. “But…”

And Seungkwan knew too. “But, if you guys can’t get through this…”

Seungcheol leaned into his friend and swallowed hard. “...then maybe 17 isn’t my lucky number.”


	11. Running Away

“It’s been a week, Jihoonie,” Soonyoung mentioned from the kitchen as Jihoon went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. “It’s been a week since all of this Seungcheol stuff and you’re still rearranging your schedule to get away from him.”

Mingyu sighed from the couch and took a sip of his coffee. “Leave him alone, hyung. Stuff like this is hard.”

Soonyoung waited over the toaster and replied, “No, I get that it’s hard, but I mean, he shouldn’t be giving Seungcheol all this power over him. He should be able to live his life however he wants without having to worry about seeing him.”

Mingyu leaned back and glanced over at the bathroom door. “It’s not even that at this point,” he said, softly. “I don’t think he’s over Seungcheol.”

Resting in silence for a moment, Soonyoung let his toast pop up with a _ding_. “You’re probably right.” He took a bite as he groaned. “I don’t know how I feel about this Seungcheol anymore. Like, god, he was in love with Jeonghan and basically broke Jihoon’s heart and he’s STILL living with Jeonghan.”

“Don’t talk so loud. Jihoon’s actually been leaving the house lately, don’t remind him of why he didn’t.”

Soonyoung nodded. “Right,” he whispered. “But still, it’s all so messed up. How could he do that to him?”

“People do crazy things, hyung. And most of the time, they don’t mean to hurt anyone,” Mingyu reasoned.

“But this is insane. He was madly in love with Jeonghan and then he goes chasing after Jihoon. And now JIHOON’S the one who has to hide?!”

Mingyu closed his eyes and answered, “You’re just being protective.”

“Hell yeah, I’m being protective!” Leaning against the counter, Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows. “And you should be too! That’s _our_ Jihoon. For as long as I’ve known him, I’ve never seen him this hurt.”

“But I seriously don’t think that us hating on Seungcheol is what he needs right now,” Mingyu suggested.

Confused, Soonyoung tilted his head. “What do you mean?”

But just as he was about to answer, the bathroom door cracked open and a groggy Jihoon walked out. “I can literally hear everything you guys say,” he flatly said.

Feeling a bit guilty, Soonyoung straightened up and sat down at the counter. “Sorry, Jihoon.”

But Jihoon just batted his hand and headed back into the bedroom. “It’s fine, just thought you should know. Please be careful of what you say behind closed doors.”

Both Soonyoung and Mingyu felt their chests ache for their friend. He clearly wasn’t okay. “Are you heading out, hyung?”

“Mm-hm,” he muttered as he rolled a sweatshirt over his head and shoulders. “I’m gonna get some coffee.”

Soonyoung leaned forward and asked, “Not from downstairs, right?”

Throwing his backpack over his shoulders, Jihoon stepped back out. His hair was unkempt and his clothes looked rather crumpled, but obviously that didn’t matter to him. He had spent half of the last week just continuing to mope until he finally picked himself up, even if it was in the slightest way possible. He had to do a little bit of rearranging, but he managed to make his entire schedule “Seungcheol-proof,” which actually wasn’t too hard aside from leaving the house in the mornings. He had to push everything an hour earlier to make sure he wouldn’t run into Seungcheol in the hall, especially since the boy knew about his old routine. “Definitely not from downstairs.”

Sucking his lips in, Soonyoung nodded. “You gonna go study after?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon sighed. “I’ve got some big exams coming up and I haven’t really been studying right lately. I’ll probably be there all day.”

“Do you want us to go with you? We haven’t hung out in a while.”

“I see you every day.”

“Yeah, but…” Soonyoung stopped as he looked at his friend. Jihoon just stood in front of him waiting for a response. But Soonyoung couldn’t pull himself to say anything. He had seen this boy on so many mornings for so many years and it hurt him to see what was standing before him now, someone that looked so broken.

“But we miss you, Jihoon,” Mingyu finished.

Jihoon glanced back and forth from the two of them and cracked a small smile, the first one in a long time. He sighed and looked down at the ground. “I miss you guys, too.”

Surprised, Soonyoung’s eyes widened a bit. “Jihoon…”

“But I need to be alone for a little longer, okay?” Jihoon interrupted.

And he didn’t need to say anymore. Soonyoung and Mingyu understood. “Okay,” Soonyoung agreed.

“Just call us if you need anything,” Mingyu said as Jihoon headed for the door, with Soonyoung following behind.

“Thanks guys,” Jihoon nodded.

But just across the hall, Seungcheol was feeling anything but thankful. Jeonghan stepped out of the bedroom and rubbed his eyes. Squinting, he looked over by the front door and found Seungcheol pressed up against the peephole, intensely staring through it. “Seungcheol? What’re you doing?”

But Seungcheol didn’t reply. He just kept focusing on the closed door of apartment 917B. With this lack of a response, Jeonghan sighed and walked passed him towards the kitchen. “Still not talking to me I see.” No response. “That’s fine, I guess. I would definitely like to know _why_ I’m getting the silent treatment, but fair enough. You do you.”

Still nothing. Seungcheol breathed heavily against the wooden frame.

“It’s really early, Seungcheol,” Jeonghan remarked, glancing at the kitchen clock. “It’s seven in the morning! Wow, it must be something important if you’re up this early.”

Nothing.

“Are you waiting for the mail? I remember at the old apartment, you used to always do that when you ordered something cool.”

Nothing.

Pouting a little, Jeonghan opened and leaned into the fridge. For the past week or so, Seungcheol had been acting like this, ignoring him and not talking. It was extremely discomforting in Jeonghan’s mind, especially since he didn’t know what was wrong. A small part of him feared that it had to do with what Seungcheol told him a couple months ago, but he brushed that idea off. “We’re completely passed that by now,” Jeonghan thought to himself as he looked over at Seungcheol’s back, concerned. “It definitely doesn’t have to do with that.”

Taking out the milk and pouring it in a glass, Jeonghan casually said, “Hey, I haven’t seen Jihoon around in a while.”

“Neither have I.”

Caught off guard, Jeonghan spilled outside of the cup, letting the milk splash onto the counter. He quickly controlled himself and put the gallon down as he reached for a paper towel. He looked up at Seungcheol, but his roommate was still in the same position. Furrowing his eyebrows, Jeonghan paused before he asked, “Is everything okay?”

Seungcheol sighed and pushed his arm against the door, finally letting his head tilt down from the peephole. “No. Not really.”

Jeonghan felt worried at how distraught Seungcheol looked. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“No. Not really,” he thought. But his outer-self craved some form of human interaction at that particular moment. He stepped back and looked over at Jeonghan, eyes drooping. “Jihoon’s avoiding me.”

“Oh,” Jeonghan uttered, nodding slightly. He looked away as he put the milk back in the fridge and finished wiping off the counter.

“Yeah,” Seungcheol sighed. “And I’m trying to catch him before he goes out again.”

“How long have you been waiting?”

He shrugged. “An hour, maybe.”

Jeonghan, who was hearing all of this for the first time, didn’t fully know how to react. But Seungcheol didn’t blame him. He had no prior knowledge and no idea how this all started. “You can’t just go over there?”

Seungcheol shook his head. “I can’t. He would never open the door. I just have to wait to be in the right place at the right time.”

“So you’re watching the door.”

“I’m watching the door.”

“How long has it been?” Jeonghan asked, softly.

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows. “I just told you. Like an hour or…”

“No,” Jeonghan interrupted. “I meant how long has it been since you’ve seen him.”

Seungcheol took a second and just rubbed his forehead. “Too long.”

Jeonghan sucked in his cheeks and nodded. Pausing to let Seungcheol’s situation soak in, he drank his entire glass of milk in one gulp. Slamming it down on the table, he walked over to the concerned Seungcheol. He stopped in front of him and gave a small smile as he firmly gripped his shoulder. “Keep watching.” With that and a friendly pat on the back, Jeonghan headed back into the bedroom.

Appreciative of the small gesture, Seungcheol grinned into his chest and let out a small puff of air. He turned back to the door and repositioned himself, but just as he looked through the peephole, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He felt his heart sink and sweat build on his forehead as he immediately flung the door open. Frantically, he jumped into the hallway and screamed, “WHERE’S JIHOON?!”

Soonyoung was standing with his toast in their doorway, leaning on the frame. Surprised, he didn’t know how to respond. “Seungcheol…,” he mumbled with his mouth full.

But Seungcheol barely even heard it. His eyes quickly shot down the hall. At the end just before the turn, he saw Jihoon’s profile right as he disappeared past the corner. And the instance he caught a glimpse of that pink hair and those soft lips, Seungcheol’s heart started racing. And so did he. “JIHOON!” Seungcheol screamed as he broke into a mad dash.

The familiar voice rang in Jihoon’s ears for a split second before he reacted. “Shit!” he muttered. Without even looking back, Jihoon started running faster than he thought was physically possible. He could not see Seungcheol right now. No, he wasn’t ready yet. He just could not see him. Sprinting down the halls, Jihoon’s heart started beating rapidly as he became flushed with worry. He knew Seungcheol was athletic and had no clue how close behind he was. Making all the necessary turns, Jihoon just kept going as he heard, “JIHOON!” again.

Seungcheol was yelling into nothingness. It wasn’t until he turned into the longest hallway did he get another glimpse of who he was chasing. Thankfully too, because seeing the cute boy who he hurt so bad was enough to get him to run even faster. “JIHOON!” he cried out, heavy breaths following every scream.

But Jihoon refused to give in and it felt like the halls were never ending. Pumping his legs furiously, he skidded to a halt in front of the elevator, frantically pounding on the down button. “COME ON COME ON COME ON!”

“JIHOON!”

_DING!_

As soon as the doors opened, Jihoon slid inside and repeated the same process, trying to force the doors closed. “COME ON COME ON COME ON!”

“PLEASE! JIHOON! WAIT!” Seungcheol screamed, desperation just ringing in his voice. He watched as Jihoon got onto the elevator and hoped with his entire soul that he didn’t leave before he got there.

But it was too late.

Nearly tripping over his feet, Seungcheol forced himself to stop by smashing his palms against the edges around the elevator. Unable to catch his breath, Seungcheol stared between the tiny sliver the elevator doors formed just as they were about to close. He couldn’t even pull himself to scream anymore. Jihoon was fading away right in front of him. But just before the doors fully shut and Seungcheol felt his body give out in defeat, Jihoon flicked his head up and met Seungcheol’s gaze. For that split second, time slowed down. And they both stared into each other’s sad, hurting eyes.

Then the doors closed.

Seungcheol was gone. Gasping for air, Jihoon clutched his chest and slammed his body against the back of the elevator, letting his backpack cushion the blow. He was again drenched in the same pain that had been drowning him all week. His mind was racing with too many emotions. All of that hurt seemed to slap him in the face. But at the same time, he couldn’t get over how scared and frenzied Seungcheol sounded screaming out his name. He couldn’t erase the boy’s voice from his head. He couldn’t stop thinking about those big eyes. Those big eyes he hadn’t looked into for a while. He felt his heart strain from the exhaustion, but also from the confusion. As he was running, Jihoon knew more than anything that he had to get away. But for some strange reason, something inside of him made him second guess that instinct. Somewhere, there was a small part that...wanted to stop running. Even as mad and upset as he was at Seungcheol, he longed for him. Hearing that voice, that scream, just reminded Jihoon of what it was like to have Seungcheol around, and that confused him even more. How could he want someone who put him in this situation? Why would he crave someone he couldn’t forgive? And seeing Seungcheol’s face...made it all worse. How could he run away from that face? Completely shaken, Jihoon rubbed his cheeks and tried to contain himself. But he couldn’t. Flipping around, Jihoon gritted his teeth and smashed his fist against the elevator. Filled with so much confusion and rage and hurt and uncontrollable yearning, he screamed, “WHY DOES HE DO THIS TO ME?!”

Jihoon was gone. Still staring at the closed doors, Seungcheol couldn’t stop panting. He just stood there completely out of breath and tried to wrap his head around what just happened. His stomach felt like a pit falling in on itself. His eyes were stained with the image of Jihoon running away. His legs were shaking from all that speed. He knew he could’ve hit that elevator button and tried to catch up with Jihoon at the bottom. He knew that was an option, but something inside of him said not to do it. And then, he cracked the tiniest, most out-of-context smile. And as he stood there, trying to steady his breathing, it slowly got bigger and bigger. He leaned his forehead against the cold, metal doors and closed his eyes. With that massive, genuine grin chiseled across his face and satisfaction starting to replace his exhaustion, he whispered into his chest, “He looked at me.”


	12. In the Dark

“Hyung! You’re hogging the covers!” Chan shouted into the darkness as he yanked the blanket he and Jihoon were sharing.

Jihoon groaned and rolled over. “Ugh, Chan, if you’re gonna be like this just let me go sleep on the couch!”

“No!” he protested. “You’re not allowed to sleep out there all alone! You must be watched!”

Jihoon rolled his eyes but smiled just a little, grateful for his friend’s care. He reached under their pillow and pulled out his phone to check the time. 12:01am. Not even that late. Jihoon leaned into the wall and tugged on the blanket just a bit.

“Hyung!”

“Oh my god,” Junhui mumbled from his bed on the other side of the room. “Guys, go to sleep.”

“We’re trying!” Chan replied.

Slightly amused, Jihoon chuckled. “Thanks again for letting me stay here, guys.”

“Any time, Jihoon,” Junhui said. He turned over to face Chan and Jihoon smooshed onto Chan’s tiny twin bed. The first two nights that he stayed over, like any normal person, Jihoon slept on the couch out in the living room. But the previous night, Chan had gone out to get a glass of water and found the poor boy blubbering by himself in the middle of the night. So, to keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay, Chan insisted that Jihoon sleep next to him. “You feeling better?”

Jihoon sighed and shifted onto his back, placing his hand behind his head and staring at the ceiling. All the lights were off, but his eyes had adjusted to the point where he could make out some shapes and figures. “I don’t know,” he softly answered.

Chan put his arms over the comforter and copied Jihoon’s position. For a second, he just glanced over at Jihoon for any indication that he would keep talking. There was none. “Does hiding out here make _anything_ better?”

He sighed. “I don’t know.” After his last encounter with Seungcheol, he was just too confused. His heart wanted something his brain knew it shouldn’t have. The idea of sitting down and talking to Seungcheol had crossed his mind plenty of times, but he just still wasn’t ready. And almost meeting him in the hallway just reminded him of how unready he was. So he needed to get away, and the best option was Chan and Junhui’s place.

Chan and Junhui didn’t live too far from Jihoon. When Junhui first came to Korea, it was Chan’s family that took him in as an exchange student. But two years ago, due to work conflicts, Chan’s family had to move out of the city. So, Junhui decided to take Chan in for him to finish high school while Junhui attended college. Their apartment was relatively close to both of their schools, so it was the perfect place for Jihoon to get away from all his problems.

Or so he thought. Jihoon first thought that if he was far enough away, the boy across the hall would fade from his mind a bit. But that wasn’t the case in the slightest. His emotions were almost heightened because of the distance, and that just pissed him off even more. Not only was he angry with Seungcheol, but he was angry with himself for wanting to forgive Seungcheol. It was all too much to take in, so much so that he would just burst into tears randomly. To an extent, he felt as if his emotions had shifted to more annoyance than hurt. But then he would just think about Seungcheol’s big eyes and shaky voice and realize that, yes, it was indeed hurt that he was feeling.

“Are you gonna talk to him any time soon?” Junhui asked, leaning his head on his arm.

Jihoon groaned and rubbed his face. “I honestly don’t know. I don’t know if I want to, but…”

“But you’re gonna have to,” Chan finished.

Jihoon scoffed. “No, who says I have to? I could literally go the rest of my life without talking to him.”

Even in the dark, Jihoon could tell Chan was raising an eyebrow at him. “Hyung. Come on.”

“I could!” Jihoon insisted, as if he were trying to convince himself as well. “I could just go about my daily life without caring if I saw him or not. Yeah, that’s totally possible! I’ll keep going to Akkinda and Seungkwan and I will go back to just knowing each other through coffee orders,” he quickly babbled, words just flying out of his mouth. “I never had any classes with Seungcheol so nothing has to change there. I could even move in with you guys! We could get a bunk bed so Chan and I wouldn’t have to share! It would be great!”

Junhui and Chan glanced at each other for a moment before Chan said, again, “Hyung. Come on.”

But Jihoon didn’t say anything. They could both sense he was becoming a bit hysterical, like most people do when they’re in a ridiculous situation. Juhui softly said, “Jihoonie.”

“Mm,” he grumbled, his eyes closed.

“Do you _want_ to never talk to him again?”

Jihoon hesitated. He took a moment to just think before he answered. “No.”

There was a pause as his friends just waited. Jihoon sighed and stared at the inside of his eyelids. “No. I...I do want to talk to him again,” he said before groaning and covering his face. “But why?! Like, _why_ on earth would I ever want to talk to someone like that again?! I mean, the other day when I was running away from him, I was almost tempted to _stop_! Do you know how insane that is?! It’s all too confusing and too dumb, I don’t understand!”

Another pause. He sighed again and batted his eyes open. “I don’t understand...but...I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m ready, but then again, when would I even know if I _was_ ready?”

His friends waited to make sure he was done before they gave any advice. Junhui was the first to throw something out there. “I think…,” he hesitated as he watched his friend just lay there, completely still. “I think you should talk to Seungcheol.”

Jihoon groaned and rolled over onto his stomach. He stuffed his face into the pillow, causing Chan to shift closer to him. In a muffled voice, he screamed, “But how?! How am I supposed to do that without wanting to punch him or run away from him?!” He groaned and scoffed as he mumbled, “Or even kiss him.”

That last comment made Junhui crack a small grin. “Just let him say what he was trying to tell you the other day. Ya know, when you were running away,” Junhui suggested.

Chan nodded and turned to face the side of Jihoon’s covered face. “You’d probably feel better if you talked to him. It would clear the air and you’d be able to live in your own apartment.”

Jihoon glanced over and saw Chan sympathetically smiling at him, and for some reason that grin was enough to get him to listen. “You think?”

Chan eagerly nodded again. “You say you don’t know how you feel about a lot of things right now, right?”

“Right,” Jihoon affirmed.

“Then let Seungcheol give you some more information so you can figure out how you feel. Your heart’s probably all confused because your brain knows there’s more to the story,” Chan said. “Based on what you’ve said hyung, Seungcheol’s trying _really_ hard to get back to you. And I know you say you’re not ready, but you have to start somewhere.”

Calmly taking in everything Chan had to say, Jihoon thought it over. He turned onto his side so he could see Chan and Junhui. “I have to start somewhere.”

“Right,” Chan grinned.

Junhui smiled from his bed, impressed with how well Chan managed to get his message through Jihoon’s thick, love-infested skull. He chuckled, “Baby steps, Jihoonie.”

“Right.”

There was a pause as Jihoon thought for a moment. “So the first step would be...to talk to him?”

“You could say that,” Chan said. “Actually though, you would probably start with an even smaller step like…”

“Looking at him,” Junhui added.

“Right, looking at him could be your first step if you _really_ want to take it slow.”

“Looking at him,” Jihoon thought to himself. All of a sudden, a flashback of the other day’s incident raced through his mind. A clear picture of Seungcheol’s face popped into view, his sad, tired face through the elevator’s crack. His eyes were scared and desperate. His cheeks were flushed red from the chasing. His lips were...quivering. In that split second, Jihoon had looked at him.

“I think we can move on to the talking,” Jihoon finally said.

“Okay,” Junhui agreed. “Then we’ll go with that. Next time you see Seungcheol, talk to him.”

Jihoon let that soak in real quick. The idea of sitting down and having a conversation with Seungcheol for the first time in...a long time made his heart race. It was thumping in his ears. It was so loud that Jihoon almost felt that Chan could hear it. “Don’t be too scared, hyung,” Chan said, comfortingly rubbing Jihoon’s arm as he sensed his anxiousness. “It’s just the first step.”

Jihoon nodded. The first step. Then a thought occurred to him. “What’s the last step?”

Chan didn’t answer. He had a lot of good advice for the present dilemma, but he wasn’t sure what to recommend for the future. But as the older resident of their home, Junhui was used to thinking ahead into the unknown. “It can be anything. What do you want from all of this?”

“I…,” Jihoon started to say, but he stopped himself. What did he want from all of this? He couldn’t say that he wanted to be with Seungcheol. Sure he was up for going back to being civil, but the idea of being in a relationship with Seungcheol was still too painful. But at the same time, he couldn’t completely rule out that idea. He missed their fun dates and easy conversations. How could he not even try to get that back? But how could he get back to that with someone like Seungcheol? Someone fun and charming? Or someone untrustworthy and deceiving? It was all...up in the air.

“I don’t know.”

Junhui nodded. “That’s fine. You don’t have to know for a while.”

“A while?”

“These are baby steps, remember. It all takes time.”

“Right,” Jihoon nodded.

Chan grinned and watched his hyung contemplate a little more. He would give anything to be able to crawl into Jihoon’s brain and help out with the gears inside. He wanted to do anything to help him feel better. So he decided to do the one thing he for sure could. Inching closer, Chan wrapped his arms around Jihoon and squeezed his body. Even though Chan was younger, he was a little taller than Jihoon. “Oh my god, Chan,” Jihoon muttered as he tensed up, not expecting that much contact.

But Chan just kept smiling. He locked his chin around Jihoon’s shoulder and said, “Everything’s gonna be okay, hyung. Whatever happens between you and Seungcheol, I think it’ll be okay.”

And again, somehow Chan’s simple words were enough to make Jihoon ease up. He released his tension and fell into Chan’s embrace. With a small smile, he hugged him right back. “Thanks.”

For a moment, they just kept hugging in the dark, until Junhui couldn’t contain his chuckles any longer. He tossed his blanket off and swung his legs around. “Okay, I want in on this,” he laughed as he walked over to them. Without any other warning, he plopped his body right on top of both of them, smiling and engulfing them in his arms.

Chan grunted and laughed, “Hyung! You’re too heavy!” He tried to shove Junhui off, but he wouldn’t budge.

And that was fine with Jihoon. He just laughed and let himself get crushed. It was the first time in a while since he had felt good pain, and it was beyond comforting. Opening his eyes a bit, he grinned at his friends. “Thanks guys.”

Junhui flashed him a huge smile. Ruffling Jihoon’s hair, he replied, “Any time.”


	13. Locked Out

“When are you gonna be home?”

_“We’ll be back before you know it. Sorry, Seungcheol, just wait for a little bit.”_

Seungcheol groaned and leaned against the wall by his front door. “Okay, yeah, I’ll be here,” he replied into the phone. “Thanks.”

Jeonghan weakly grinned from the other side. _“Remind me when I get home, we’ll start putting a spare key on the door frame or something.”_

Seungcheol closed his eyes and sank to the floor. “Sounds good,” he gruffed.

_“See you soon.”_

“Bye.” Seungcheol silently hung up the phone and shoved it into his pocket. He sat on the dank, carpeted floor and waited in the hall. It wasn’t like him to forget his key, but then again, he wasn’t fully himself lately. It’d been a week since he saw Jihoon disappear behind the elevator. After that, he had immediately called Seungkwan.

     “SEUNGKWAN!”

_“WHAT?!”_

     “HE LOOKED AT ME! IT HAPPENED! HE LOOKED AT ME!”

_“OH MY GOD, REALLY?! OH MY GOD! HYUNG!”_

     “WHAT DO I DO NOW?!” Seungcheol screamed.

_"RIGHT!”_

     Then there was a pause.

     “SEUNGKWAN!”

 _“I’M THINKING!”_ Seungcheol tried to contain himself on the other line. _“Uhh, okay! Step one accomplished! Good job hyung!”_

     Seungcheol smacked his forehead, but couldn’t hold back his smile. “Yes! Thank you! WHAT’S STEP TWO?!”

 _“STEP TWO!”_ Seungkwan shouted. _“I think...step two…”_

     “SEUNGKWAN!”

_“STOP YELLING!”_

     Seungcheol took a deep breath. “Sorry.”

_“Okay! Next step is…”_

     Seungcheol waited.

_“ ...to talk to him.”_

Talk to him. That’s all Seungcheol could think about. After establishing that that was the next step, Seungcheol tried even harder to get close to Jihoon. But days had gone by, and he never found the boy in the hall again. It wasn’t until he ran into Soonyoung that he heard Jihoon wasn’t staying at home, but at their other friends’ house. And Seungcheol was crushed. Just when he thought he was making progress, it turned out that he was driving Jihoon even further away. Seungkwan and his friends kept reassuring him that taking it slow was the right approach and that this would all work out if he was just patient. But he couldn’t help it. He was so devastated that it seemed like his plan would never work out. And that made him lose his mind, and, incidentally, forget his key.

“So dumb,” Seungcheol said aloud as he covered his face with his hands. Slumped against the wall, he groveled on the floor. Just sitting there gave him time to pity himself again, until a beautifully familiar voice broke his silence. “You okay, there?”

Seungcheol’s head shot up and his eyes grew wide from shock. “JIHOON!”

Jihoon stood above him with groceries in his hands. “You okay?”

But Seungcheol wasn’t okay. He was completely surprised and he wasn’t sure what to feel first. “Uhhh!” he blurted out as he shot to his feet.

Jihoon was just as uncomfortable as Seungcheol. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned to the front door of apartment 917A. “Are you locked out?”

“Uhh,” Seungcheol started, “Yeah. I…” He took a second to just stare at the side of Jihoon’s face. He was at a lost for words. Jihoon stood before him with his soft pink hair and smooth cheeks, but for some reason Seungcheol couldn’t fully read his face. There were no tear stains or any signs of blushing. He seemed...calm. Seungcheol couldn’t tell if that was a bad thing. “I forgot my key.”

“Oh,” Jihoon replied, gently nodding as he got out his own. “Sorry about that.”

“No, no,” Seungcheol stammered, forgetting how to properly use his tongue. “It’s obviously not your fault.”

Jihoon’s cheeks pinched inward as his mouth stretched out. “Right.”

For a moment, Seungcheol didn’t know what to do next. And neither did Jihoon. It was only yesterday that Jihoon decided it was time to come home and take that next step he had talked about with Junhui and Chan nights before. Soonyoung and Mingyu were ecstatic to have him back, even throwing him a ridiculously small “Welcome Home” party. But as much as he was glad to be home, he was still horribly afraid of taking that step, so much so that he didn’t even know if he had anymore emotions left to express that fear. So imagine his horror and uncertainty when he came home to find Seungcheol just sitting there at his front door. A part of Jihoon told him to run in the opposite direction, but he knew what he had to do: talk to him.

Jihoon awkwardly fiddled with his key until he sighed and started to put it in the lock. Seungcheol watched and waited to see if the boy would say anything else. He knew this was his moment to truly talk to him for the first time since Jihoon overheard that conversation...how many days ago? Seungcheol had lost track. But he wanted to see if Jihoon would possibly make the first attempt.

As Jihoon opened the door, he softly mumbled, “Do...do you want to come in?”

Seungcheol’s body sank. “Are you sure?” He had no idea why he would give Jihoon the option of retracting the offer he’d been waiting for for weeks, but he didn’t want to push him to do anything he wasn’t ready for.

Jihoon looked back at him and politely grinned, like you would to the mailman or a random person you passed on the sidewalk, with little true emotion. “Yeah. We should talk.”

Seungcheol gave a sigh of relief and nodded, trying his best to contain his excitement. “Thanks.”

The two of them walked inside and Jihoon locked the door behind him. Seungcheol watched the boy head into the kitchen. He placed the groceries on the counter and started putting them away without saying anything else. Seungcheol took a seat at one of the stools on the opposite side of the island and decided to just start talking. “So, how’ve you been?”

With his back turned, Jihoon chuckled a bit. “Not too great.” He glanced back and made eye contact with the reason why he wasn’t too great. “You?”

That answer made Seungcheol’s chest sting. “About the same,” he weakly replied, turning his head down. He was still beating around the bush. “When’d you come home?”

“Uhh, yesterday. Yeah, I was starting to run out of clothes and thought it was time to come back,” he replied, putting some stuff in the fridge.

Seungcheol slowly nodded. “I’m glad.”

Jihoon waited for Seungcheol’s next question, but it never came. He could tell the boy was uncomfortable, and why wouldn’t he be? Jihoon was freakishly uneasy and he was thankful that this was the one time in his life his face didn’t show it.

But that just made Seungcheol even more uneasy. Why doesn’t he look worried? Why doesn’t he look angry? Why doesn’t he look like...anything?

Jihoon hesitated when he realized that the small talk was over. He slowly finished putting away all the food and stuffed the bags in a drawer. Finally, he stretched out his arms and leaned over the counter to look at Seungcheol. And as he stared, Jihoon was expecting his heart rate to pick up and for sweat to form on his palms. He was expecting that rush of emotions he always got when he looked at Seungcheol, even the other day when he was running away. He was expecting some form of clarity to ease his confusion just by looking at him. But…

Jihoon didn’t want to think about that right now. “What…,” Jihoon started. His attention grabbed, Seungcheol’s head immediately shot up and their gazes met. Seungcheol’s eyes still looked concerned, while Jihoon’s were...normal.

“Yeah?”

“What...did you want to tell me the other day?” Jihoon asked.

Seungcheol paused. This was the moment he had been waiting for and he could feel his heart pick up. “I…” But he stopped. His chest was thumping as he realized he didn’t even know where to start.

Seeing his hesitation, Jihoon said, “You were trying to tell me something, weren’t you?”

“Right,” Seungcheol sighed. He still wasn’t sure the best way to start, so he just started, “That night, when you overheard me saying...all of those things…I—I really didn’t want you to find out. It wasn’t because I wanted to hide everything from you, it was because everything was so new with us. I needed to figure out all my issues to make sure I could…” He looked to Jihoon as he tried to find the right words. “...move forward...with you.”

Jihoon listened, and as he did, his eyes fell to the counter. He just focused on Seungcheol’s words. “And your ‘issue’ was that...you were in love with Jeonghan.”

Seungcheol closed his eyes and leaned on his forearms. “That was part of it.”

“Part of it?”

Slowly exhaling, Seungcheol cautiously continued, trying to make sure he was going slow enough that he wouldn’t say anything stupid, “Part of the problem was that I loved Jeonghan. I mean you heard what I said, I...was in love with him for...a really long time.” Just hearing him say it again made Jihoon ache. But he kept listening. “But things didn’t work out and he’s with Jisoo. So, we live together because...we’re friends and that’s what friends do.”

“But that’s not what you thought when you moved in.”

Seungcheol sighed. “No.”

Jihoon nodded. Even though his face didn’t show it, he was starting to hurt like he did when he first learned all of this. “You wanted to win him over.”

Seungcheol was almost startled at how steady Jihoon’s voice was, but he kept going. “At first. But then…”

Jihoon looked back at him. “...you met me.”

Seungcheol smiled from the corner of his mouth. “I met you.”

For a moment, they just stared into each other’s eyes. Jihoon could see the gloss forming over Seungcheol’s. Jihoon could see his subtle joy from just talking to him as well as the slight worry from the entire situation. It was comforting, but again, Jihoon thought that seeing that would make him feel that bolt of...anything. Whether it was excitement, rage, sadness, or even hatred, he was expecting to feel more than he was. All he felt was confused. He stared deeper into Seungcheol’s eyes, hoping to find that something that would invoke that key emotion.

And Seungcheol was searching, too. As he looked into Jihoon’s eyes, he saw nothing. There was no excitement, no rage, no sadness, not even hatred. Seungcheol was expecting...something, and it just made him more concerned. Seungcheol thought that he would see the same emotional Jihoon he had glanced at in the elevator a week ago, but that wasn’t the case. He stared deeper into Jihoon’s eyes, hoping to find any sort of indication that he was the same person.

“I met you, Jihoon,” Seungcheol finally continued, “And this is the part you didn’t hear.” Before going on, he took one last second to see if that spark ignited in Jihoon. It didn’t. He spoke softly and slowly, “I...met you...and started forgetting about Jeonghan. Every time I was with you, Jeonghan disappeared from my mind. You were all I thought about...and that scared me. I thought it was insane that I could move on from Jeonghan so quickly when I thought I felt so much for him, but _you_ did that to me. You made me feel so happy and Jeonghan just made me feel so hurt, and it freaked me out. So I got help from my friends and I told them everything, the good, the bad, the ugly. All of it was out there.” He sighed and dropped his eyebrows. “And I’m _so_ sorry that you had to hear all of it. Because I promise you I...I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Jihoon listened intensely and his brain was hard at work processing all of that missing information. “Is that everything?” he asked.

But again, Seungcheol was taken aback. He spoke so flatly, so unlike himself. Jihoon was a boy who wore his emotions on his sleeves and now, when he was hearing the rest of the conversation that made him run away, he didn’t seem to express anything.

And that made Seungcheol’s brain go off. Is that everything? No, of course it wasn’t! Seungcheol mentioned how great Jihoon made him feel and how that changed his perception of Jeonghan, but he very cautiously chose to leave out the part that he was falling in love with him. “Baby steps,” Seungcheol heard Seungkwan say in his head. He needed to take it slow and nothing was faster than confessing his love. If just _looking_ at Jihoon made him temporarily move out of his own home, what would a confession do to him? And based on Seungcheol’s prior experience, his confessions never ended well. He wanted to be with Jihoon more than anything, but he knew the next step was just to talk to him exactly like this.

But as he looked at Jihoon’s face, Seungcheol couldn’t help but panic. It was empty. Is that everything? Why was that all he had to say? Why didn’t Jihoon look like he cared more? Why was Jihoon being so distant? _How_ was Jihoon being so distant?

“Baby steps,” Seungcheol thought again. But Jihoon’s blank face was just staring at him. And that thought was replaced. “Fuck that.”

“I’m falling for you, Jihoon,” Seungcheol blurted out, not even thinking anymore. “No, that isn’t everything because I. Am. Falling. For. You. And...I want to be with you! And the reason I didn’t know if I wanted to be with Jeonghan was because you just so quickly and so easily took all of my heart and—and—and I didn’t know what to do!” He became hysterical and hopped down from his seat, leaning his hands on the counter. “Everything I ever felt for Jeonghan just MAGICALLY disappeared when I was with you and that scared the crap out of me! How was I supposed to accept that my love of six years just evaporated after meeting you?! Jeonghan was the person I thought I was meant to be with and I was prepared to fight for him until he took me. But you! YOU made that all go away! It was like a punch in the face when I first met you! My whole idea of love was put on the line and I was so fucking scared! It was all too much and I was so terrified, but I freakin’ knew that it was happening. And it’s _still_ happening! Because I’m falling in love with you, Jihoon!”

Seungcheol had to catch his breath, but the second he stopped talking, regret washed over. The whole time, he was looking right at Jihoon, waiting for that critical response from his confession. But still, there was nothing. His face didn’t change. He barely even flinched. Seungcheol felt his voice start to shake as all confidence flew out the window. “Jihoon...I...didn’t mean to…” But he couldn’t even finish his statement. Seemingly exhausted, he slumped back onto the chair and buried his face into his hands, feeling that he had just screwed everything up.

Jihoon didn’t budge. The whole time he was listening to every word that Seungcheol said, he was waiting for his own response. As he heard everything, he _wanted_ to be shocked that Seungcheol felt that way about him. He _wanted_ to be freaked out that Seungcheol had just frantically admitted all of that. He _wanted_ to be happy that Seungcheol felt the same way he used to. He _wanted_ anything.

But there was nothing. He didn’t feel shocked. He didn’t feel freaked out. He didn’t feel happy. He didn’t feel anything. And as he registered his own lack of emotions, he was no longer confused. Chan was right. He had been saying, “I don’t know,” for weeks. Now that he finally had all the information, his mind knew what had to be done.

“Do you know how many days it’s been since I first heard you through that door?”

Seungcheol’s head shot up. “Jihoon.”

Seeing the boy’s flushed face, Jihoon just raised his eyebrows at him. “Do you know how many days?”

Thrown off by the question, Seungcheol stammered, “I—No, I—I lost track after—No, I don’t.”

Jihoon curled his lips in and nodded. “It’s been 17 days.”

Seungcheol’s heart dropped and his eyes grew wide. “No, that can’t be—”

“I’ve been counting,” Jihoon said with a weak grin. And for the first time in their encounter, Seungcheol saw something in Jihoon’s eyes: a splash of pink and a thin layer of water.

“Jihoon…”

But Jihoon kept going, “17 days ago...you made me hurt more than anyone ever had.” Seungcheol could feel his body give out. “I locked myself away because I thought you were in love with someone else. And now that I think about it, it’s almost insane how much power you had over me because…” Jihoon scoffed and shook his head, “...I was hurting soooo bad.”

“Jihoon…”

“I was so hurt...because _I_ also thought I was falling...for you.”

“Jihoon…”

But Jihoon kept going, now with a slight quiver in his tone. “But days would go by, and I would just keep hurting because, I guess, that’s what love does to you. And at first, I was more upset than anything. I couldn’t even hate on you yet because...how can you hate someone you thought you wanted to be with?”

Seungcheol felt like he was being tortured.

“And then you tried to talk to me...and it felt like I was getting crushed all over again. And I just didn’t want to see you, so I had to rearrange my whole schedule to get away and avoid you. I thought that would work for however long…until you caught me in the hallway.”

“Jihoon, I’m…”

“I had never run so hard in my life. I had never wanted to get away from someone so badly, ever. I was still so hurt that I wanted nothing more than to not see your face. But I did. I saw your fucking sad looking face in the crack of those elevator doors and it made me lose it! You made me _so_ beyond confused that I resented myself because…”

Jihoon stopped to catch his breath and looked down at the ground. “...because there was always a small part of me that wanted to forgive you. Deep down, I wanted to be able to get past this so we could have a future. So I went to my friend’s place and stayed there and basically evaluated what could happen between us. I even had this stupid ‘baby steps’ plan that started with me talking to you today.” He glanced up into Seungcheol’s eyes. “I was so confused on what to do with us and I thought that...if I saw you and if I talked to you, my heart would tell me what to do…”

Jihoon’s voice trailed off. Seungcheol was on the edge of his seat, so afraid of where this was going, because Jihoon’s face definitely didn’t give him any indication. He hesitated, but Seungcheol gently asked, “And...do you know what to do?”

Jihoon closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip as he nodded. “Yeah.” He took a deep breath before looking back at Seungcheol, a tear escaping the corner of his lids. “I need to move on.”

And Seungcheol’s heart shattered. “Jihoon-ah!”

Jihoon started to softly cry, trying to keep himself from losing it completely. He was finally feeling an emotion, and it hurt him that this was the one that gave him absolute clarity. “I thought...that you would make me feel something once you told me everything. I thought that _that_ emotion would guide me in either forgiving you, or yelling at you, or wanting to be with you again. And that would be the next step.” Jihoon choked on his words as he chuckled into his chest, annoyed at how ridiculous what was happening inside of him felt. “But as you were telling me everything, even as you confessed…I felt nothing.”

Seungcheol was now in tears. His heart was in a million pieces and he had no idea what was happening. As Jihoon spoke, he could hear the words, but it was almost too much for him to even comprehend. He jumped down from his seat and frantically yelled again, “JIHOON-AH! DON’T SAY THAT!”

“I felt nothing, Seungcheol,” Jihoon whispered. Seungcheol’s jaw hung open as his chest kept rising and falling. “And I need to move on.”

It still wouldn’t register, but Seungcheol was beyond frantic. “NO! JIHOON-AH!” Seungcheol ran around the counter to stand right next to Jihoon, squatting down a bit to look him in the eyes. “You can’t seriously be saying that right now! You _just_ said that there was a part of you that wanted to forgive me!”

“That’s what I thought…”

“NO!” Seungcheol screamed. Afraid beyond belief, Seungcheol grabbed Jihoon by the shoulders and desperately stared into his pink eyes. “PLEASE, JIHOON-AH! YOU CAN’T SAY THAT!” But even though they held tears, Seungcheol still saw nothing in Jihoon’s gaze.

Jihoon turned away. “We shouldn’t do this anymore...”

“JIHOON-AH!” he yelled, pain ringing in his throat as he shook the boy who refused to return his love.

“I need to move on, Seungcheol…”

“NO! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?! HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT AFTER 17 DAYS OF WAITING FOR THIS MOMENT?! WE CAN WORK IT OUT! DON’T WALK AWAY FROM THIS!”

“ _You_ moved on after six years of loving the same person. 17 days is nothing. You should know more than anyone how _easy_ it is to move on.”

For a moment, Seungcheol’s distraught consumed his body and his face. The truth in Jihoon’s words made Seungcheol want to crumble. He held his breath as he waited for Jihoon to say more.

Jihoon sighed and turned back to face Seungcheol for what he hoped would be the last time. As he was being held, Jihoon stared up at Seungcheol’s broken expression. He desperately tried to find something inside of him that would make him change his mind. He _wanted_ to not walk away. But nothing in his heart told him to stay.

“You should go.”

And that’s all Seungcheol could take. His heart was so broken that he couldn’t even fight anymore. He took one last good look at Jihoon’s empty face. Seungcheol immediately released his grip and turned away. Without another word of protest, he rushed to the door, walked out, and slammed it behind him.

Jihoon closed his eyes and dropped to the floor and cried a little harder. He knew this was the right choice, but it still hurt. Just not enough hurt to fight for Seungcheol.

Out in the hall, Seungcheol didn’t know what to do with himself. He was enraged and heartbroken and crushed and devastated and utterly and completely hurt. It was almost unreal how horrible this all turned out, so much so that Seungcheol felt lost. He was panting incredibly fast and crying through his anger. He ruined everything. He threw 17 days worth of waiting and planning down the drain. He screwed with his own baby steps when he confessed. He failed to get any sort of emotional response from Jihoon, a boy who he loved for being a ball of emotions. And now...it was over. There were no more days. There was no more plan. There was no more Jihoon. Jihoon was moving on.

Broken and hysterical, Seungcheol turned to his own front door. Reading the apartment number, 917A, he lost it. Seungcheol leaned against the door and smashed his fist right on the 17. Through his tears, Seungcheol shut his eyes and tried to lower his voice as he cried, “Why did it have to be 17?!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you guys liked that and agh im very sorry cause i hurt writing this stuff thank you so much for your support!! this is the longest chapter so far and OH! funny story: i actually had no idea this conversation would take place on day 17 like that was not planned lol i was trying to figure out the time line of events since i always just gave random numbers like a week or three days or four days so i was curious to what that actually added up to AND BY SOME ACT OF PURE LUCK IT TURNED OUT TO LAND ON 17 XD i was so excited i had to include it in the story XD heres the break down if you're curious:
> 
> so lets call the day of the conversation day 0. After that Jihoon locked himself away for 2 full days, making it day 3 when Seungcheol first tried to explain everything. After that, Seungcheol told Seungkwan he was in his room crying for four days (days 4, 5, 6, 7) which puts their baby steps conversation on day 8. The day Jihoon runs through the halls, Soonyoung says that it's been a week since all this Seungcheol stuff. Soonyoung and Mingyu didn't know it was about Seungcheol until day 3, so a week from that is day 10. After that, Jihoon leaves to stay with Chan and Junhui. While he's there, the first two nights he stayed on the couch (so between day 10 and 11 then 11 and 12). They have their conversation after 12:01am so it's technically day 13. In this chapter, Seungcheol says its been a week since he saw Jihoon on day 10, putting us at day 17 XD
> 
> yeah not super important or anything but thought it was cool how that magically happened and wanted to share XD hope you're liking the story! thanks for reading <3


	14. Your Fault

As Seungcheol was pounding on it, the door flew open and a shocked Jeonghan revealed himself. “WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

Seungcheol frantically entered the apartment and started pacing in the center of the room. He was beyond freaked out and Jeonghan could easily tell something was wrong. “Seungcheol! What’s happening?!”

“WHEN’D YOU GET HOME?!” Seungcheol screamed as Jeonghan shut the door.

Jeonghan was utterly confused. “What?! Uh—like five minutes ago! I tried to text you but you didn’t say anything! Were you at Jihoon’s?!”

Seungcheol didn’t even bother to check his phone to see if that was true. He was too busy dying inside. “I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!” he yelled.

Jeonghan tried to go near him to calm him down. “Seungcheol! Are you alright?!”

But before he could lay a hand on him, Seungcheol backed away and glared at him. Pointing at his face, he screamed, “NO! _YOU_ HAVE DONE ENOUGH!”

Startled, Jeonghan froze. “What—what are you talking about?!” He stared at Seungcheol’s steaming face and finally saw the tears that came with his rage. Jeonghan was terrified at this version of his roommate and he was even more worried since he was being accused of putting him in this state.

Seungcheol scoffed as water flowed from his eyes. “ _YOU_ ARE THE REASON I’M LIKE THIS RIGHT NOW!”

Flustered and panicked, Jeonghan stepped away from him. “Seungcheol, I—what are you—what’s happening?!” he stammered.

Even though he knew Jeonghan didn’t have a clue about what was going on, Seungcheol didn’t care. He was angry and he was hurt and he needed someone to blame, especially since Jihoon had locked him out. Hysterical, he stared down Jeonghan and cried, “JIHOON WAS AVOIDING ME BECAUSE HE FOUND OUT I WAS IN LOVE WITH _YOU!_ ”

All of a sudden, Jeonghan’s eyes grew wide and he began to panic. “Seungcheol—!” he started to say.

But Seungcheol didn’t let him finish. “HE RAN AWAY FROM ME BECAUSE HE THOUGHT I STILL WANTED TO BE WITH _YOU!_ ”

“Seungcheol!” Jeonghan yelled again, waving his hands in front of his panicked face. “Please—!”

But he cut him off. “HE HEARD ABOUT HOW MUCH I LOVED YOU AND HOW I CONFESSED TO YOU AND HOW YOU DIDN’T LOVE ME BACK! AND I FUCKING HURT HIM SO BAD BECAUSE _YOU_ HURT ME!”

“SEUNGCHEOL—!” Jeonghan desperately cried, running up to him and gripping his shoulders.

But Seungcheol immediately shoved his arms away. “NO! YOU JUST LISTEN! BECAUSE _YOU_ DID ALL OF THIS! _YOU_ ASKED ME TO MOVE IN HERE AFTER I CONFESSED! _YOU_ THOUGHT EVERYTHING WAS FINE BETWEEN US WHEN I WAS STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU! _YOU_ ARE THE REASON I LIVE ACROSS FROM JIHOON AND NOW YOU’RE THE REASON WHY HE FEELS NOTHING FOR ME!”

“SEU—!” Complete panic just ringing in his voice.

Seungcheol was not having it. “STOP! OKAY, JUST STOP! BECAUSE NOW YOU GET TO BE HAPPY WITH JISOO AND YOU GET TO MOVE ON WITH YOUR LIFE AND JUST THROW ME ASIDE! AND WHEN I TRY TO DO THAT, I GET PUNCHED IN THE FACE! JIHOON IS DONE WITH ME! HE’S FUCKING DONE! AND HE SAYS HE’S GONNA MOVE ON! AND THIS IS ALL _YOUR_ FAULT!”

Panting like crazy, Seungcheol finally stopped. He pulled his hair back to reveal his sweating forehead. His body was completely drained as he just stared at Jeonghan. That’s when he finally noticed how horrified Jeonghan looked. His eyebrows drooped and his mouth hung open. Seeing him like this almost made Seungcheol even more pissed off. “Why the hell are _you_ upset?!”

Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw the bedroom door open and he felt his chest fall in on itself.

And Jisoo stood in the doorway.

Seungcheol didn’t even get a chance to see how distraught and confused Jisoo was. “Oh my fucking god,” he mumbled. Immediately, he dropped his head and stormed past Jisoo, forcing the boy to move out of the way as the door slammed behind him. With his broken heart, Seungcheol threw himself on his bed and stuffed his face into his pillow as he screamed and cried. “OH MY FUCKING GOD!”

Jisoo stared at Jeonghan with utter confusion. He had no idea what was happening but he very clearly heard Seungcheol scream, “I was in love with you...I wanted to be with you...I confessed to you...”

“Jeonghan, what was…,” he started to ask, but he felt himself choke on the lump in his throat.

Jeonghan couldn’t believe what was happening. He was so overwhelmed as he stared at his hurt boyfriend. “Jisoo, I—! I—I can explain! Oh my god…” He started to breathe heavily as he gripped his chest.

“Was…” Jisoo could hardly find the right words as he started walking towards Jeonghan. “Was...was all of that true?”

“Jisoo-ah, please don’t freak out…”

“Like you’re freaking out?”

For a moment, Jisoo and Jeonghan just stared at each other and, yes, Jeonghan was very much freaking out. He had kept all of this Seungcheol stuff hidden because he didn’t want Jisoo to be worried. He didn’t want to give Jisoo a reason to believe there was anything between them, because there wasn’t. He and Seungcheol were just friends. But obviously, this was the worst possible way for him to find out.

Jisoo was just flushed with...he didn’t even know what to feel. What on earth was happening? What was all of this about Seungcheol loving Jeonghan? When did this all happen? He confessed? When? Why didn’t he know about this? Why were they living together now? Why didn’t Jeonghan say...anything?”

“I—I cannot believe…” Jeonghan’s mind was swirling and he started to feel dizzy. He made his way to the couch and plopped himself on the cushion as he buried his face in his hands. “Jisoo-ah, I’m so sorry…”

Jisoo glanced over at him but didn’t follow. He just stood in the middle of the room, letting Seungcheol’s voice soak in his mind, “You asked me to move in here...you thought everything was fine...now you get to be happy with Jisoo…”

“Seungcheol loved you…,” Jisoo softly said.

Jeonghan sighed and fell back into the couch. He looked over at Jisoo as his heart was beating in his ears. “Jisoo-ah, that was a long time ago…”

“He loved you and he confessed to you…”

Jeonghan tried to find the right way to explain this mess. “But I never loved him, Jisoo-ah. I never loved Seungcheol.”

But Jisoo just kept thinking out loud. “He loved you…”

Seeing his distant expression, Jeonghan swallowed hard. “Yeah,” he whispered. “He did.”

“And you never said anything…”

“I didn’t want it to get between us,” Jeonghan shakily replied.

“He confessed…”

“It didn’t mean anything…”

He had so many questions, he didn’t know where to begin. “Did he tell you…,” Jisoo started to ask, “...for how long he loved you?”

Jeonghan hesitated. “Yeah. He did,” he choked.

Jisoo nodded. “How long?”

“Jisoo, it doesn’t matter.”

Jisoo turned and looked over to the bedroom door. “It does to him.”

Jeonghan could feel the tears coming but he tried his best to hold them back. “He said it was...ever since we met.”

“Almost seven years.” Jisoo felt a pinch in his chest. “Just like me.”

“Jisoo—”

“When did he confess?”

Jeonghan slowly got up and walked to Jisoo. “None of it matters, Jisoo. Please just listen to me.”

“WHEN did he confess?” Jisoo asked again, this time more firmly.

Jeonghan stared into Jisoo’s eyes and he could tell that he was now more angry than anything. The confusion had washed away. He wanted answers. Jeonghan sighed, helplessly, and looked at the ground. “A few months ago.”

Jisoo slowly nodded. “Just like me.”

“Jisoo-ah, please. You weren’t supposed to find out like this..."

"No, ‘cause I wasn't supposed to find out at all," Jisoo interjected.

Jeonghan couldn't believe what was happening. “Baby, please. If you'll just stay calm and I'll explain everything.”

“No,” Jisoo scoffed. “I think Seungcheol explained everything perfectly.”

“Jisoo—”

“I can't believe you didn't tell me any of this!”

“There was nothing to tell!”

Jisoo pointed his arm back towards the bedroom. “ _Clearly_ there was! Seungcheol’s one of our best friends and yeah I guess I get why _he_ didn’t tell me but YOU!?” Jisoo stared at Jeonghan as if he were someone completely different from the boy he fell in love with. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Jeonghan moved closer to Jisoo and tried to be as clear as possible. “Jisoo, there’s NOTHING between me and Seungcheol! I didn't want you to worry because there was nothing to worry about! If you knew, you would just stop being friends with him.”

Jisoo rolled his eyes. "Oh wow, so you were worried about mine and Seungcheol’s friendship?" Jisoo squinted at him. “‘Cause it sounds like you were only worried about yourself.”

“No! I didn't—”

“You never told me any of this so you could have me AND Seungcheol.”

“NO! NO I DON'T WANT SEUNG—”

But Jisoo didn't want to hear it. “IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU DON’T WANT HIM! YOU HAVE HIM!! HE MOVED IN WITH YOU! AND YOU HAVE ME! YOU HAVE BOTH OF US WRAPPED AROUND YOUR FINGER!”

“JISOO! THAT’S NOT IT AT ALL!”

Jisoo could see how scared his boyfriend looked, but he was just so upset that he almost didn’t care. Almost. He couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit of guilt, even though he knew Jeonghan was in the wrong. Dropping his shoulders, Jisoo loosened his body and sighed. Running his hand through his hair, he calmly said, “Fine. Then what is it?”

Relieved, Jeonghan let out a huge puff of air as he thought of where to start. Jisoo wasn’t looking at him, but he tried to look at Jisoo. “You and I and Seungcheol have been friends forever and I honestly didn't want any of that to change. When he confessed, I didn't feel any of the same emotions I feel for you. I mean, earlier that day, I was just so happy that you and I got together—”

“Woah, wait!” Jisoo interrupted, putting his hand up. “Earlier that day?!”

Jeonghan’s eyes grew wide as he realized what he had just done. “JISOO—!”

“YOU’RE TELLING ME THAT SEUNGCHEOL AND I CONFESSED ON THE _SAME DAY_?! THE DAY WE CALL OUR ANNIVERSARY?! THE DAY I CONSIDER THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE?! _THAT_ DAY?!” Jisoo aggressively screamed.

Jeonghan could barely handle himself. “DON’T YELL AT ME!”

“OH!” Jisoo cried as he turned around and started pacing. “I’M NOT YELLING _AT_ YOU! NO, THAT WOULD MEAN I WAS TELLING YOU SOMETHING! AND _APPARENTLY_ WE DON'T DO THAT!”

Jeonghan felt his chest aching and his throat hurting. “BABY, STOP!”

“NO! I’M NOT GONNA STOP ‘CAUSE YOU LIED TO ME!”

"I FELT NOTHING FOR SEUNGCHEOL!"

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER!” Jisoo screamed. He took a second to catch his breath and he noticed Jeonghan wasn’t fighting for a chance to talk. So it was his turn. He lowered his voice and spoke with a serious tone. “That doesn’t matter...because Seungcheol and I are exactly the same.”

“No, you’re not!”

“YES WE ARE!” Jisoo stared into Jeonghan’s eyes and he kept going. “He’s just like me! He loved you for the same amount of time. He confessed at the same time...And he clearly loved you just as much as I did.”

Jeonghan felt the first rush of tears make its way out. “But that doesn’t matter! Because I’m with you!”

“NO! _THAT’S_ WHAT DOESN’T MATTER!” Jisoo fired back. “YOU DON’T GET IT! BUT I DO BECAUSE SEUNGCHEOL AND I ARE _EXACTLY_ THE SAME! BECAUSE IF I WERE HIM, IF YOU HAD CHOSEN SOMEONE ELSE OVER ME, I WOULD BE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING! TRYING TO GET YOU ANY WAY I COULD! I WAS SO IN LOVE WITH YOU, NOTHING WOULD STOP ME FROM GETTING YOU TO FEEL THE SAME WAY! I WOULD’VE WAITED DAY AND NIGHT TO MAKE YOU SEE HOW MUCH I LOVED YOU! I WOULD’VE TORTURED MYSELF BY SEEING YOU WITH ANOTHER GUY UNTIL YOU PICKED ME! IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU DIDN’T FEEL THE SAME WAY SEUNGCHEOL DID BECAUSE HE WOULD’VE NEVER STOPPED UNTIL YOU LOVED HIM BACK!” Jisoo was in tears as he was screaming. His throat was killing him as he cried out every painful word. He watched as Jeonghan’s tears flowed down his face. Shaking his head, Jisoo sighed and looked away. “‘Cause that’s exactly what I would have done.”

Jeonghan just stood there at a lost for words. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He watched Jisoo glare at the ground with his hands on his hips. He’d never seen him so angry. And it was absolutely terrifying.

“You kept all of this from me!” he yelled. “You kept everything hidden away!” Enraged and hurt, Jisoo could barely even look at his boyfriend. “YOU DIDN’T TELL ME ANY OF THIS!”

“THIS DOESN’T CHANGE ANYTHING BETWEEN US!” Jeonghan fought back. “HE COULD’VE TRIED TO CHANGE MY MIND, BUT IT WOULD’VE NEVER WORKED! NOTHING COULD CHANGE HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU!”

“YEAH, WELL THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT, TOO!”

Jeonghan’s heart dropped. His jaw hung open as he desperately stared at his boyfriend who refused to return his gaze. “Jisoo…”

But Jisoo’s heart couldn’t take anymore strain. Lifting his hand, he quickly turned for the door. “Ya know what, I can’t do this right now.”

“NO! JISOO!”

“I’M GOING! I CAN’T TALK TO YOU ANYMORE!” Without another glance, he rushed out the door, slamming it behind him.

In a complete panic, Jeonghan immediately reopened the door and cried down the hall, “JISOO-AH!”

But Jisoo was already out of sight. He was running towards the elevators with tears streaming down his cheeks. His chest was on fire and his throat was cracking. Everything felt like it was cracking as he ran.

Jeonghan lied to him. No, it was worse. Jeonghan purposely didn’t tell him anything about Seungcheol. Seungcheol loved his boyfriend. Seungcheol loved his Jeonghan. Seungcheol loved Jeonghan. Seungcheol loved him. Just like Jisoo loved him. And Jeonghan knew, he just didn’t say anything.

And as he was making his escape, from behind him he heard, again, “JISOO-AH!” But he didn’t stop. And the scream wasn’t any closer.

Jeonghan was prepared to chase after Jisoo, but his body wouldn’t let him. The emotional strain had deprived his entire being from any sort of energy. He could hardly move, so instead of running, he just dropped to the floor and leaned up against the wall. His body shook as he cried. Jisoo wasn’t supposed to be hurt by this. Jisoo wasn’t supposed to find out like this. Jisoo wasn’t supposed to find out. And as Jeonghan thought of all the other horrible outcomes that this could lead to, he cried even harder. All he could think to himself was, “How did I screw up _so_ bad?!”

Without ever looking back, Jisoo made it to the turn just before the elevators. Once they were in sight, he saw the light was on above one of them. “Hold the elevator, please!” he shrieked, managing to keep his voice somewhat steady. He quickly wiped some of his tears as he slowed his pace to stop in front of the doors. “Thank y—,” he started to say through his panting. But he stopped once he saw who was waiting for him.

Jihoon glanced up at Jisoo with his shocked, pink eyes. Jisoo could tell the boy had been crying. And Jihoon could tell the same.

For a second, the two of them just stared at each other’s heart broken faces. But oddly enough, there was no tension in the air.

Finally, Jihoon softly asked, “Going down?”

Jisoo’s chest fell to his stomach. He sighed and stepped into the elevator. Leaning his head against the back, he closed his eyes and whispered, “Yeah.”


	15. Stop the Elevator

Jihoon stood anxiously beside Jisoo as the elevator doors closed. As someone who was already bad with people, Jihoon really didn’t know what to do in this situation. He listened as Jisoo whimpered to himself and Jihoon could just feel his pain, even if he didn’t know what was actually going on. It was almost ironic how much these two had in common when it came to their heartache, and yet they had only ever spoken to each other a few times.

After about fifteen seconds of silence, Jisoo groaned and leaned over. Shaking, he cried, “Oh my god.”

Jihoon glanced over at him and gave a deep sigh. Without any hesitation, he stepped in front of the buttons and pressed the big, red emergency stop. A small alarm went off and the elevator shook to a halt.

“What?” Jisoo uttered, looking up at Jihoon with tears and panic. “Wha—what are you doing?”

Jihoon sighed again and closed his eyes. Brushing his hair off his forehead, he leaned against the wall and slid to sit on the floor. “Don’t worry, I’ve lived here long enough to know the alarm doesn’t call anyone. People can just use the other elevators. No one even notices when you hit that button.”

Still a little confused, Jisoo just stared at Jihoon. He could see the water on his face and the lack of color in his cheeks. Jisoo could hear Seungcheol’s voice in his head again, “He feels nothing for me...he’s fucking done...he’s gonna move on…” Just looking at Jihoon, he couldn’t tell what he should think of him. Yesterday, Jihoon was the boy who one of his best friends fell in love with. But now, Jihoon was the boy who broke the heart of the guy who loved his boyfriend. How are you supposed to feel about someone like that?

“You’ve done this before?” Jisoo asked.

Jihoon slowly nodded. “Sometimes you just need everything to stop.”

Jisoo closed his eyes and groaned again. “Yeah.”

Jihoon glanced over at him. “Are you okay?”

“No, not really.” He opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow at Jihoon. “Are you?”

“No, not really.”

Jisoo nodded. For a minute, neither of them said anything. They both just stayed there in their own discomfort and sadness, until Jisoo sniffled. He wiped his nose and said, “I heard…about you and Seungcheol.”

“Already?” Jihoon blurted out, a little surprised.

Jisoo slowly joined the boy on the floor, criss-crossing his legs. “Well, I wasn’t really supposed to hear, but yeah.” Jisoo paused as he watched Jihoon’s expression drop ever so slightly. “He was...pretty upset.”

“I can imagine.”

Jisoo hesitated. “He said you were gonna move on.”

Jihoon let out a puff of air and started playing with his shoelaces. “That’s the plan.”

Observing Jihoon, Jisoo could see what Seungcheol meant. He had definitely been crying and he was for sure hurt, but for some reason his face didn’t fully express that.

There was a pause in their conversation, so Jihoon decided to shift the subject. “I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what happened to…?”

“What happened to me?” Jisoo finished for him. He scoffed and shook his head. “Same thing as you I guess.” He chuckled into his chest as a few tears escaped him. “I found out Seungcheol loved Jeonghan.”

Jihoon stared at Jisoo and realized that there was actually someone out there who had it even worse than him. Putting it into perspective, it was one thing for him to find out that the guy he was falling for loved someone else, but how would it feel for Jisoo to find out one of his best friends loved his boyfriend?

“I’m so sorry,” Jihoon softly said.

Jisoo waved his hand up. “Don’t be. If anyone’s, it’s definitely not your fault.”

Lightly smiling, Jihoon asked, “You two fight?”

“Oh yeah,” Jisoo croaked. “We fought.”

Jihoon’s chest started to ache. “He had it coming.”

“I know.” Jisoo shook his head and leaned over his knees. “I just can’t believe he never told me any of this!”

“Some people just like keeping everything to themselves.”

“But I seriously never thought he was that type of person,” Jisoo said. Holding his hair back, he continued, “I mean, for all the years I’ve known him, I never thought Jeonghan would—”

“Woah, woah, woah,” Jihoon interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows. “You got into a fight with _Jeonghan_?”

Jisoo nodded. “Of course it was with Jeonghan. Who else?”

Jihoon scoffed in disbelief. “I thought you got into a fight with Seungcheol!”

“Why would I fight with Seungcheol?!” Jisoo questioned.

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “This is all Seungcheol’s fault, you know that right? _He_ was the one who loved Jeonghan. _He_ was the one who tried to win him over even after you confessed. _He_ was the one who moved in with the guy as he planned to steal him away from YOU! Why WOULDN’T you fight with Seungcheol?!”

Jisoo stretched out his neck and squinted at Jihoon. “I’m sorry, I know you’re upset with Seungcheol and everything, but TRUST ME it’s a lot more reasonable to be mad at Jeonghan right now!”

“In what way?!”

“This is clearly all Jeonghan’s fault! _He_ was the one who didn’t mention Seungcheol loved him. _He_ was the one who kept Seungcheol around even after he confessed. _He_ was the one who ASKED him to move in just months after we got together!” Jisoo was yelling at the ceiling before he turned his attention back to Jihoon. “If anything, you should be mad at him, too! Isn’t he the reason you and Seungcheol got into all of this?!”

“Isn’t Seungcheol the reason you and Jeonghan got into all of this?!”

Both of them stopped for a second as they let that soak in. Then, Jisoo sighed and stretched out his legs. “I’m sorry this is all happening to you, Jihoon.”

Surprised, Jihoon looked over at him. “Why are you sorry? We’re the victims here.”

Jisoo cracked a small smile. “Yeah, but even so. If I had known all of this, then you wouldn’t have been dragged into such a horrible situation.” Jisoo sighed before going on. “If I had known...then Jeonghan would never have moved in with Seungcheol again. And he definitely never would’ve lived across the hall from you. And then you wouldn’t be here…” He glanced at Jihoon sympathetically. “...feeling nothing.”

That last word stung in Jihoon’s chest. “Nothing,” he repeated. And it was true. He felt almost nothing, but sitting there with Jisoo did remind him of how hurt he should be. “It’s still not your fault, though.”

“Okay,” Jisoo agreed. “It’s all Jeonghan’s fault.”

“It’s all Seungcheol’s fault,” Jihoon corrected.

Taking a moment to just think things over, Jisoo closed his eyes. It’s all Seungcheol’s fault. He contemplated if that was true. “If you think about it,” he said calmly, “Seungcheol didn’t _really_ do anything wrong.”

Jihoon gave him a funny look. “I seriously have no idea how you’re able to defend him right now.”

“Well, clearly Seungcheol and I shared some pretty similar opinions about some pretty important things,” Jisoo pointed out. “So, I can’t help but know what he must be thinking.”

Jihoon hesitated at that idea, but he had already made his decision to move on. Hearing a defense for Seungcheol wouldn’t make too much of a difference. But he hoped it would. “How didn’t he do anything wrong?” he cautiously asked.

Jisoo sighed. “He...fell in love. It’s what we all do.”

“Really? That’s how you can empathize with him? Because he fell in love with Jeonghan?” Jihoon questioned.

“Not Jeonghan.” He cocked his chin forward. “With you.”

Jihoon swallowed hard and sat back to listen.

“Seungcheol just totally and completely fell in love with you,” Jisoo continued. “Like, he just...did. It all happened so fast and all reason basically flew out the window. I mean, I seriously didn’t know what had happened between you guys until like literally ten minutes ago, but I knew he was sad and he was broken and he was just...dying inside because you were avoiding him. He wouldn’t tell me why you two were fighting…,” Jisoo paused to chuckle softly. “Now I know why.” Glancing up, he smiled at Jihoon. “And even though it sucks he kept all of that from me...I get it. If I knew what was going on, more problems would’ve just blown up everywhere…”

“Like right now?” Jihoon weakly laughed.

“Like right now.”

“But still, how does that justify all of this?”

“I’m not saying it’s completely justified, I just don’t think he did anything wrong,” Jisoo explained. “All of this happened because he fell in love with you, and you can’t blame him for that. Everything he ever did was for love, whether it was when he loved Jeonghan or now when he loves you.”

Jihoon stared at Jisoo. “But he was planning on _stealing_ Jeonghan away from you.”

“And I would’ve tried the same thing,” Jisoo replied. “The more I think about it, the more everything Seungcheol did makes sense.”

Slightly annoyed at how well Jisoo was defending Seungcheol somehow, Jihoon scoffed and crossed his arms. “It doesn’t make sense to me.”

“What doesn’t?” Jisoo asked. He wasn’t sure if this talk was influencing Jihoon’s perception of Seungcheol, but for some reason he hoped it would.

Jihoon took a second to figure out what to ask first. “Well…”

Jisoo waited and raised an eyebrow. “Yeeessss?”

But nothing came out of his mouth. “I…”

“You…”

But Jihoon couldn’t think of any other question except for the one that had him confused for weeks. Jihoon turned back and finally said, “I just don’t understand...how he could’ve ‘fallen for me’ so quickly.”

For some reason, that made Jisoo smile. “You could ask yourself the same question.”

“Hmm?”

Chuckling, Jisoo clarified, “How did _you_ fall for him so quickly?”

Jihoon paused and continued to think everything over. How did this all happen? What the hell even made him feel so much for Seungcheol? It had been so long since Jihoon truly thought about what it was that made Seungcheol special. Was it his smile? Or his eyes? Or his laugh? Or his straightforwardness? Or his corny humor? Or his…

“Wait! I never said I fell for him!” Jihoon cried out in a panicked tone.

But Jisoo just laughed. “You didn’t have to! Jihoon, when you tell someone you’re moving on, that means you either had or still have really strong feelings for them.”

Normally, Jihoon would try and argue a little more, but he was too busy recalling why he, yes, did in fact fall for Seungcheol. He sighed and closed his eyes as he softly thought out loud, “When I first met him, it was in the hall...and I remember sitting on the floor, being all tired and grumpy, and then hearing his voice. And the second I heard that voice…” But he couldn’t finish the sentence.

So Jisoo did for him. “...you felt something you had never felt before.”

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah. From there, I just kept...falling.”

Smiling, Jisoo looked down at his lap. “That’s what happens to all of us.”

“Is that what happened with you and Jeonghan?” Jihoon asked.

But the sheer reminder of that boy made Jisoo feel a pinch in his chest. “More or less.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jisoo batted the air. “It’s a long story. But essentially, yeah, I fell for him the second he was in front of me. He claims it was like that for him, too…” Jisoo paused and groaned, rubbing his face in his hands as he remembered what was really going on outside of the elevator. “...but now I’m not so sure if that was true. He could’ve felt the same about Seungcheol when they first met...and he’s just been hiding all of this from me.”

Jihoon, who was still wracking his brain with Seungcheol information, could tell that Jisoo was still very much worked up about Jeonghan. “Hey, you don’t know that.”

“You’re right,” Jisoo scoffed. “I don’t know that. I don’t know anything ‘cause Jeonghan never told me anything.”

Watching Jisoo closely, Jihoon tried to put himself into his shoes. But for some reason, he slipped into Jeonghan’s. “If it means anything,” Jihoon started to say, grabbing Jisoo’s attention. “I think he’s telling the truth.”

“How could you possibly think that?” Jisoo questioned.

Jihoon pursed his lips and tried to find the right words to describe his strange empathy. Because, Jisoo was right. How could he possibly think that? But for some reason, he just could. “As one of the two people that Seungcheol loved,” Jihoon explained, “I somehow feel Jeonghan and I have a lot in common.”

Curious to see where this was going, Jisoo just listened.

“Both of us seem to love people...with all we have. I mean, these past weeks have been absolute hell ‘cause I’ve given EVERYTHING I have to Seungcheol. My body’s so drained, now I just feel…” Jihoon stopped. “...nothing.” His heart started racing faster as that thought ran through his mind. Was that what was going on? Was _that_ why he felt nothing?

But Jihoon quickly realized that Jisoo was waiting for him to continue. So he shook himself and put that thought to the side as he continued to defend the boy Seungcheol loved before him, “I—I mean, we just end up throwing so much of ourselves towards whoever we love. I think the reason Jeonghan kept all of this from you, was because...he wanted you to have everything.”

Jisoo thought about that real fast. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you knew all of this, think about everything you would’ve lost,” Jisoo suggested.

So Jisoo did. If he had known, then his friendship with Seungcheol would’ve definitely been over. If he had known, then the entire dynamic of their friend group would have been broken. If he had known, he would’ve been insanely jealous every time Jeonghan talked to anyone. If he had known…

“So you’re saying that Jeonghan kept all of this...to protect me?”

Jihoon shrugged. “I think so. I bet it was killing him inside, not telling you all of this. But he knew it was the right thing. Because Seungcheol loving him has nothing to do with how he feels about you.”

“But what if one day, Seungcheol had changed that,” Jisoo interjected. “What if Seungcheol managed to get Jeonghan to fall in love with him? They live together, they see each other every day, the share a freakin’ room, it would’ve happened.”

But Jihoon shook his head. “It wouldn’t have.”

“Why not?”

“If he spent that much of himself keeping something away from you, he would never let that something get in the way of his feelings,” Jihoon said.

After Jihoon finished, there was a subtle silence. In that moment, Jisoo realized the tension in his chest was gone and he was breathing normally again. His anger had somehow washed away. Was Jihoon right? Did Jeonghan really do all of this for Jisoo’s benefit? Did he hide this so Jisoo wouldn’t lose everything? Jihoon had given him a lot to think about, but he still wasn’t one hundred percent okay with everything.

Same with Jihoon. Maybe Jisoo was right, that Seungcheol really _didn’t_ do anything wrong. Maybe all of this wasn’t Seungcheol’s fault. Maybe the reason Jihoon felt nothing wasn’t because he didn’t love Seungcheol, but because he had already given Seungcheol everything. Was that possible? Was that how his emotions worked? Jisoo had given him a lot to think about, but he still wasn’t one hundred percent okay with everything.

But both of them felt better than when they had stepped in there. Jihoon had been so alone the past weeks. Obviously he had his friends, but no one truly knew the situation like he did. No one could understand the full length of his pain and confusion. Except for Jisoo.

As for Jisoo, all of this was so fresh he needed someone to calm him down. Someone who knew what was going on but wasn’t his boyfriend or the guy who loved his boyfriend. That someone just happened to be Jihoon.

After a minute, Jisoo looked up and smiled at the other boy. “Thanks, Jihoon.” Jihoon’s head flicked upwards as he returned his gaze. “I needed everything to stop for a bit.”

Jihoon smiled and nodded before glancing up at the emergency button. He felt a small pang in his chest as he thought of pressing it. “You ready to go back?”

Jisoo closed his eyes and grinned. “Not yet.”

Jihoon sighed and followed his lead. “Me neither.”


	16. Downstairs and Upstairs

“Why’re we here?” Seungcheol asked, rubbing his sulking face as Wonwoo placed two coffees on the table.

Wonwoo glanced around the cafe. “You need fresh air. You can’t just stay hidden at Seokmin and Seungkwan’s place.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes and zipped up his hoodie. “I don’t need fresh air,” he argued, gripping his cup. “And I’m not hiding there. I live with them now.”

“Right, “ Wonwoo sighed and pursed his lips. “Hyung, are you serious about this whole moving out thing? It’s all really fast and you just moved in.”

Groaning, Seungcheol leaned over the table and rested his forehead against it. “I’ve already gone through this with Seokmin and Seungkwan. Do you really want to hear it too?”

“Hey, this is a team thing that we’re trying to do, okay?” Wonwoo replied, smiling. He knew his friend was going through a hard time, so his job was to be supportive and light-hearted in anyway he could. “With you and Jeonghan and Jisoo all not talking to each other, the three of us have to rotate. I’m on Seungcheol duty today and to do a good job I need the full information. So, yes hyung, I would like to hear it too.”

Even as grouchy as he was, Seungcheol sat back up and managed to smile. He really appreciated all of this, especially since everything was so dark and twisty lately. He needed someone to brighten his day. “Wonwoo, I already moved out. A few days ago, I got most of my stuff and now it’s all at Seungkwan’s place. I’m not hiding. I’ve left.”

“And Jeonghan’s okay with all of this?”

Seungcheol scoffed, “You said it yourself. We’re not talking to each other. He’s probably glad I’m finally out of his life. I’m for sure glad he’s out of mine.”

Wonwoo smacked his lips together after taking another sip. “That’s not what I got from him.”

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow. “What’d he say?”

“Well, not much. Poor Jeonghan’s mostly crying these days. I mean, it’s been a week since their falling out and Jisoo still hasn’t said anything. You came up in conversation a bit, but it seemed like he was more sorry than anything.”

“He should be sorry,” Seungcheol said, finally taking a swig of his coffee.

“Come on, Seungcheol. Don’t you think you’ve ragged Jeonghan enough?”

Seungcheol sighed and pushed back his hair. “I just need to be mad at someone.”

Wonwoo took a second. “Then be mad at Jihoon.”

Pausing, Seungcheol just shook his head. “I’ve tried.”

For the past week, Seungcheol let his emotions get the better of him. He was just so full of anger and sadness that he couldn’t handle himself. After a few nights of sleeping on the couch and hearing Jeonghan bawl from the bedroom, he decided he couldn’t take being so close to so many of his problems and moved out. Since Wonwoo lived in the same building and staying with Jisoo definitely wasn’t an option, Seungkwan and Seokmin were eager to let him “move in” with them. None of them truly believed him when he said that he was moving, but as the days passed, he didn’t seem to lighten up.

He had targeted all of his anger at Jeonghan. For some reason, yelling at him just wasn’t enough. All of that built up rage was just aggravated by Jeonghan and Seungcheol couldn’t control it. And he had definitely tried. Seungcheol tried to redirect all of it to the true culprit: Jihoon. He tried to be mad at Jihoon and he tried to blame everything on Jihoon, but he just couldn’t. Something inside of Seungcheol didn’t allow him to hate the boy, and it was the worst feeling in the world.

Wonwoo slowly nodded. “So you aren’t mad at Jihoon…”

“I don’t know,” Seungcheol blurted out. “I should be...but I just can’t. Whenever I think of Jeonghan, I get so angry, I just want to rip my hair out. But when I think of Jihoon…” He took a second to take a deep breath. “...I just want to cry.”

“Hyung…”

“I don’t know why,” Seungcheol continued, mindlessly watching himself play with his coffee cup. “I mean, I should be more upset with Jihoon than anybody, but I can’t even do that yet. He’s the one to blame, but I can’t get angry with him. And it’s fucking annoying.” His tone picked up a bit as he kept going, “He basically broke up with me, and we weren’t even together! And now...now, all I can do is cry when I think about him. He’s gonna move on and just forget about me while I sit here...and cry.”

Watching his friend, Wonwoo could just feel how distraught he was, and it was painful to see. Seungcheol slouched down in his chair and didn’t say anymore. Sensing his hesitation, Wonwoo slowly asked, “Have you seen him since?”

Shaking his head, Seungcheol sighed. “No. I didn’t even see him before I moved out.” Stopping and closing his eyes, he groaned. “And if he really meant everything he said, I’m probably never gonna see him again.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“But it is,” Seungcheol contested. “If he really meant what he said, then I’m never gonna see him again. I have absolutely no reason to. I don’t live across the hall anymore. He’s probably never gonna go to this shop again. We don’t have any classes together.” Looking to Wonwoo, he shook his head. “It’s over.”

Wonwoo leaned back in his chair and took in everything his friend had to say. He knew what Seungcheol was feeling all too well. “Do you think he meant it?” Wonwoo finally asked.

Seungcheol thought for a second before submitting. “Yeah.”

“But...you don’t want it to be over.”

Closing his eyes, Seungcheol replied, “Of course not.”

A flashback of his confession raced through Seungcheol’s head. Everything that he had said then was still true. And it hurt how true it all was. He was still falling in love...with the boy who wanted nothing to do with him. How was that even possible? Seungcheol had no idea. But his heart ached too much for it not to be possible.

“Then you should fight to get him back.”

Seungcheol was surprised at how firm his friend’s words were. He opened his eyes to find Wonwoo staring at him, a very serious expression on his face.

“Wonwoo, it’s not that simple…”

“But it is.”

Still taken aback, Seungcheol couldn’t tell what exactly had gotten into him, but he decided not to question it. “Wonwoo, I would. I really would, but I don’t think that’s what he wants.” Seungcheol sighed and looked down at his lap. “He was serious when he said he was gonna move on. I’ve hurt him too much and he just can’t handle it anymore. I don’t want things to end...but I can’t force him into anything. He really doesn’t want me anymore and he’s made it clear to everyone. I mean the other day when I was taking out some stuff, I didn’t see him but I ran into Soonyoung and Mingyu—”

All of a sudden, Wonwoo jerked and threw up his hand. “Woah, wait,” he interrupted. “Did you just say Mingyu?”

Furrowing his eyebrows, Seungcheol said, “Yeah, why? What about him?”

Wonwoo’s jaw hung open. This was the second time in the last month or so that he had heard that name. The first was a few weeks ago when his roommates came home and asked if he knew Mingyu. Completely shocked, Wonwoo said yes and asked why. Turned out that Hansol and Minghao were friends with him and Wonwoo had come up in conversation. Unfortunately, something distracted all of them and Wonwoo never remembered to ask what had been said. Before those mentions, he hadn’t heard about Mingyu in...a really long time.

“How do you know Mingyu?” Wonwoo quickly asked, his eyes growing wide as he leaned forward.

“Uhh, he’s Jihoon’s friend and one of his roommates—”

Wonwoo’s eyes grew even bigger. “He lives in that building?!”

Now Seungcheol really didn’t know what was going on. “Yeah, he does,” he cautiously replied, pulling away. All of a sudden he was completely distracted from his Jihoon situation.

And so was Wonwoo. “Oh my god…,” he muttered under his breath, his gaze falling to his lap. His hands started to pull back his hair as he connected the pieces. His roommates were friends with Mingyu. Mingyu lived with Jihoon. Jihoon lived across from Seungcheol. “He lives right downstairs…”

“Wonwoo?” Seungcheol asked confused.

As if he were shaken out of a trance, Wonwoo cocked his head up. “Yeah!”

Seungcheol hesitated before he slowly asked, “How do you know Mingyu?”

Wonwoo stopped. He had never told any of his friends about Mingyu before because...well, it was just too much, even for him. He sighed and leaned over the table, refusing to make eye contact with Seungcheol, who was looking to him worriedly. “It’s a long story…,” he whispered.

It was so long ago and he had spent so much energy trying to forget about it. But as he sat there and was forced to recall everything that happened between him and Mingyu, he came to the sad realization that their story paralleled Seungcheol and Jihoon’s in too many ways. “So much for being light-hearted,” Wonwoo thought to himself.

With way more empathy than you could think possible, Wonwoo glanced up at the quiet, confused Seungcheol and said, “...but maybe you need to hear it.”

And as Seungcheol sat up and prepared himself for whatever was happening, another conversation was taking place in the apartment just upstairs from Mingyu’s.

“Come on, get some coffee with us, Jihoon,” Hansol begged as Jihoon raided their cupboards.

“Uhh, no,” he flatly replied.

“You know Akkinda’s a lot better than that new place you’re going to,” Hansol insisted. “What’s it called again?”

“Mansae?” Minghao suggested as he tied his shoes.

Hansol shook his head. “No, Mansae’s a good coffee shop. They give free muffins on Tuesdays.”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter where I go as long as it’s not Akkinda.”

“Hyung…”

But Jihoon didn’t want to talk about it anymore. “I appreciate the offer, but it’s okay. If you guys want to go, I’ll just hang out here by myself.”

Minghao and Hansol glanced at each other real quick, both knowing what Jihoon meant. “Hyung, you shouldn’t keep hiding,” Minghao said.

“I’m not hiding!” Jihoon protested as he came over to sit next to Minghao. “I’m moving on. I don’t need to hide.”

“Then come get coffee with us,” Hansol said again, softly looking at his friend.

“You guys were the ones who asked me to hang out with you,” Jihoon argued. “So I came up here!”

“Yeah, we wanted to get coffee,” Minghao corrected. “And then YOU ran up here. We were supposed to meet downstairs.”

Jihoon sighed and dropped the side of his body onto the couch. “But I’d rather just hang out here.”

“Where no one can find you,” Hansol added.

Before he could say anything more, Jihoon felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out and read a text from Mingyu. “You’re at Hansol and Minghao’s right? Is Wonwoo there?”

Jihoon couldn’t help but crack a smile. This would just lead to more teasing for poor Mingyu. “No, he’s not,” Jihoon quickly sent back. And before he could even look up from his phone, there was a knock on the door.

Hansol turned and opened it. “Mingyu—!”

“Sorry, I don’t mean to just drop by,” Mingyu quickly said. He was clearly out of breath, assumingly from running.

Jihoon giggled and sat up as his friend entered the apartment. He lifted his phone up and mockingly shook it in his hand. “You just had to know if Won—”

But Mingyu frantically interrupted as he stopped directly in front of Jihoon. “I need to talk to you.”

Hansol and Minghao were surprised, but Jihoon was definitely the most taken aback by Mingyu’s weird straightforwardness. “Uhh, okay, what do you—”

Not letting him finish again, Mingyu grabbed Jihoon’s wrist and pulled him up. “Hey!” Jihoon cried out, trying to pull away.

But Mingyu’s grip was too strong. Dragging Jihoon along, Mingyu stormed into the room on the left side of the apartment. “Hey, don’t go in there!” Minghao called out. “That’s Wonwoo’s room!”

But again, Mingyu was ignoring any statement that came his way, as if he didn’t even hear it. “Mingyu! Stop pulling me!”

Leaving the door open, Mingyu pulled Jihoon into Wonwoo’s bedroom and swiftly threw him onto the bed. “HEY!” Jihoon screamed again. Hansol and Minghao followed and stayed by the doorway, utterly confused and almost worried since none of them had ever seen Mingyu like this before. “WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!” Jihoon yelled as he sat up and glared at Mingyu.

Mingyu didn’t flinch. He wore a serious face and just stared down at Jihoon. There was a moment of silence where both of them just looked at each other. Then, Mingyu said, “You can’t move on, Jihoon.”

Completely and utterly confused, Jihoon just stared at him with his mouth hanging slightly open. He had no idea what was going on and why on earth Mingyu was acting so strange and why this was what he wanted to say while he was acting so weird. “Mingyu, wha—what—why?” Jihoon stammered, squinting and leaning his neck forward. “Why’re you saying this?”

“You can’t move on,” he said again, this time his expression loosened a little. His eyebrows sunk in and he almost looked...sad.

Which just threw Jihoon off even more. “What the fuck Mingyu. You can’t just tell me—”

“You’re still in love with Seungcheol.”

Hansol and Minghao decided to stay quiet as they watched. Jihoon still didn’t know what was happening, but he finally registered that he didn’t like what was happening. “Mingyu!” he yelled as he started to stand up. “I’m not still—!”

“But you are!” Mingyu interrupted, throwing his hands on Jihoon’s shoulders and shoving him back down, sitting on the bed.

“WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!” Jihoon shrieked, now glaring into Mingyu’s eyes.

There faces were only inches from each other. “You are still in love with Seungcheol!”

The way Mingyu was yelling made it obvious that he was upset. Why he was upset was less than obvious. And that just pissed Jihoon off even more. So instead of continuing to question Mingyu, he fought back. “NO, I’M NOT!”

“YES, YOU ARE!”

“NO, I’M NOT!”

Still gripping his shoulders, Mingyu shook Jihoon. “YES, YOU ARE!”

Furious, Jihoon looked away from him and aggressively tried to rip his hands off of him. “LET GO OF ME!”

“NO! YOU ARE STILL IN LOVE WITH SEUNGCHEOL!”

Still standing in the doorway, Hansol could tell the scene was escalating way too quickly for comfort. He was about to step into the room, but Minghao stuck out his arm and blocked his way. The two looked at each other for a second before Minghao just gently shook his head. Hansol hesitated, but decided to abide. So they both stayed quiet and watched.

“MINGYU! FUCKING LET GO OF ME OR I WILL RIP YOUR ARMS OUT RIGHT FROM THE SHOULDERS AND BEAT YOU WITH THEM!” Jihoon threatened, anger just pulsing through his entire body at this point.

But Mingyu wouldn’t let up. He believed way too firmly in what he was doing to give just when Jihoon got scary. “NO! YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO ME BUT YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME WHEN I SAY: YOU STILL LOVE SEUNGCHEOL!”

So beyond frustrated, Jihoon pushed back even harder, starting to kick his legs. “WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?! JUST LET ME GO!”

“NO! YOU’RE NOT LISTENING! YOU CAN’T LEAVE HERE!”

“WHY DO I HAVE TO LISTEN IN THIS ROOM?!” Jihoon hollered, shutting his eyes and struggling to pull his strength to beat Mingyu in a battle of pure force.

“BECAUSE IT’S SYMBOLIC!”

That statement was so out of place that it made Jihoon pause. He opened his eyes and just stared at Mingyu, even more confused and frustrated. “WHAT?!”

Seeing that his friend wasn’t fighting back as hard anymore, Mingyu dropped his head and sighed into his chest. “Because...it’s symbolic.”

With Mingyu’s face no longer screaming at him, Jihoon was able to collect himself. He looked over at the doorway and saw Hansol and Minghao’s confused faces and that just let him know that his reaction was appropriate. Mingyu was being insane and they had no idea why. Well, they had an idea why. It had to do with Jihoon moving on...and Wonwoo’s “symbolic” bedroom.

After about half a minute of more confusion, Jihoon sighed and, as calmly as he possibly could, he asked, “It’s ‘symbolic?’”

Without looking at him, Mingyu released his grip on Jihoon’s shoulders and stood straight up. He groaned and started pacing with his hand in his hair. “Yeah. It’s symbolic.”

“What the hell is it symbolic for?”

“So many things,” Mingyu thought to himself. But he just couldn’t bring himself to explain exactly why just yet. So, he jumped back to his main point from earlier. Throwing his hands on his hips, Mingyu sighed and stopped in front of Jihoon to look him in the eyes. “You...still love Seungcheol.”

Jihoon wanted very much to keep screaming, but just feeling Mingyu’s stare in this context made him suppress that feeling. He took a deep breath before replying, “No. I don’t.”

“And…,” Mingyu continued, completely ignoring Jihoon’s statement. “...you don’t feel nothing.”

That last thing made Jihoon stop. For the past week, he had felt nothing. Yes, he was hurt that first day with Seungcheol and then Jisoo in the elevator, but after that...he moved on. But not really. He CLAIMED he moved on, but he was still hiding and purposely going to different places. Talking to Jisoo did make him think about whose fault all of this was, but he was still putting in the effort to not be around the boy who previously lived across the hall. That night, Jihoon had told Soonyoung and Mingyu about his nothingness and he later informed the rest of the group. None of them truly believed him when he said that he was moving on, but as the days passed, he didn’t seem to lighten up. He hadn’t mentioned Seungcheol since and none of his friends really knew how to help him because he didn’t say anything about it.

And that made Mingyu go crazy. After he heard Jihoon’s side, after he heard about all the “nothing” he was feeling, Mingyu couldn’t help but feel awful inside. Then, the other day, he ran into Seungcheol as the boy was moving out and Mingyu felt even worse. There was a horrible feeling just eating inside of Mingyu and he couldn’t handle it anymore. He broke. And he had to tell Jihoon everything he felt.

Jihoon scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Mingyu, I’ve already explained this to you. I feel nothing. I really do. And...I really wish I didn’t feel nothing...but I don’t…and I can’t change that…,” Jihoon slowly said back.

“But, Jihoon,” Mingyu whispered, cautiously. He tried to keep his voice low so Jihoon would do the same. He raised his hand and very slowly said, “You...do not...feel...nothing.”

Jihoon wanted nothing more than to punch his friend in the jaw to shut him up. Who the fuck was he to tell him this? Where the hell was he coming from that he could tell Jihoon what he did and didn’t feel? What the fuck was going through his head?

But as Jihoon stared at him, he looked absolutely certain he was right. And for some reason, Jihoon took that look as enough to listen to what he was saying. Jihoon sighed and closed his eyes. “I already told you I don’t feel anything for him. It’s all gone.”

“But it’s not,” Mingyu insisted, keeping his tone down. “You just think it is.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Mingyu slowly sighed and tried to pick where to start. “You...don’t feel nothing. You. feel. everything.”

Jihoon kept his eyes closed. “What?” he mumbled.

Taking his time to make sure this all came out right, Mingyu started to pace. “You feel everything, Jihoon. You don’t feel nothing. You feel absolutely everything. You are still in love with Seungcheol and it has shaken your emotions so much that you went...numb.”

That last word made Jihoon flinch. Eyes opened, Jihoon squinted. “Numb?”

“Yeah,” Mingyu sighed. “Numb.”

Jihoon sat forward and leaned over his knees. He thought about it for a second, but he couldn’t wrap his head around it properly. It was too fresh. He looked up at Mingyu and asked, “How?”

“You feel everything, Jihoon.” Mingyu said again. “Last week was the first time you had properly talked to Seungcheol in weeks. You were so...filled with emotions that you were holding onto for days. Don’t you remember?” Mingyu asked as he stepped back and leaned against the wall. He crossed his arms and said, “You were mad at Seungcheol. You were sad ‘cause of Seungcheol. You were hurt ‘cause of Seungcheol. You were depressed because of Seungcheol. You were afraid of Seungcheol. But, you said it yourself, there was still a weird part of you that wanted him back.”

Jihoon paused. “Yeah.”

Mingyu nodded and went on. “So when that day came, when you two finally talked again, it was all of that...times a thousand. You were off-the-chart, filled with emotions. And it blinded you. Your body couldn’t handle it. So instead of being overwhelmed with feelings…” Mingyu stopped to take a breath. “...your heart shut down. And you thought it felt nothing, but really…” Mingyu opened his eyes and looked right at Jihoon. “...you were numb.”

Jihoon listened carefully and tried to comprehend all that was being said as his gaze broke off. Numb...Was that really what it was? Was Mingyu right? Jihoon thought hard for a second and tried to dig up his emotions from the past week. He had felt...nothing. He couldn’t think of anything past that first day. Even when he heard the news that Seungcheol was moving out, Jihoon didn’t react very much. Actually, Mingyu had a greater response. Now that Jihoon thought about it, it was probably something that lead to this conversation they were having at the moment. “Numb,” Jihoon thought again. “I’m...numb?”

Then, a thought occurred to him. Jihoon flicked his head up and looked at Mingyu. “How would you know this?”

Mingyu sighed. Hansol, Minghao, and Jihoon all patiently watched as he clasped his hands together and slumped over to the bed, plopping himself down next to Jihoon. With another deep breath, Mingyu turned to the side and looked to Jihoon with a broken heart. “You know how I never tell you guys about me and Wonwoo?”

All three sets of eyes grew wide. Jihoon was caught off guard again, but he replied, “Uh, yeah.”

Mingyu scoffed and looked down at his hands as he rubbed them together. “I think it’s about time I do.”

Jihoon had no idea what to say. “Mingyu…”

“You need to know all of this before you say you don’t love Seungcheol anymore.”

Jihoon stopped for a second and just wrapped his head around what Mingyu was finally saying. “So, you and Wonwoo…”

“Yep,” Mingyu said, nodding lightly. Taking a deep breath, he let his upper body fall back and lay on Wonwoo’s bed. As Mingyu stared at the ceiling and recalled the story he kept away for as long as possible, a small smile snuck out from the corner of his lips. “Wonwoo used to be my pretty boy across the hall.”


	17. Another Love Story

“Did your parents sign you up for this, too?” Wonwoo asked, looking to the kid who was at the easel next to him as he poured out some paint.

Mingyu groaned as he tied his apron around his neck. “Ugh, yeah. My mom thinks I’m not ‘cultured’ enough or something,” he complained. “But honestly, what mother signs her 14 year-old son up for ART class?”

Wonwoo chuckled and dipped his brush. “Someone like my mom. Only difference is she signed up her 15 year-old.”

Smiling slightly, Mingyu couldn’t help but be amused. “Looks like we’ll just be tortured together.”

Wonwoo grinned and watched the boy start his painting. Something about him was oddly charming. “Looks like it.”

— — —

“MOM! DAD! I’M GOING TO SCHOOL!” Mingyu cried out as he finished tying his shoes.

“BYE, SWEETIE!” his mom hollered back.

“HAVE FUN!” his dad added.

Mingyu smiled. “I’LL TRY!” He stood up and brushed off his uniform. As soon as he opened the apartment’s front door, his eyes grew wide and he stood there for just a second, completely surprised. “Wonwoo?” he finally uttered.

Wonwoo was out in the hall rearranging some boxes. He was also in a uniform, but there was some sweat on his brow. Hearing his name, he immediately turned around. Upon seeing Mingyu, he gave a shocked smile. “Mingyu! Hey!”

Still confused, Mingyu chuckled. “Hey! What—are—you live here?”

Wonwoo glanced over at the boxes and put his hands on his hips. “Uhh, yeah, I guess. My family and I just moved in yesterday and we just have a few more boxes to take in.” He turned back to Mingyu and laughed at the boy’s face. “Don’t look so thrown! I told you the other day that I was moving!”

Mingyu scoffed and rolled his eyes. “I’m not thrown! And you didn’t tell me where you were moving to! How was I supposed to know you’d end up across the hall?”

“Well, I did! Looks like we’re neighbors now!” Wonwoo exclaimed, throwing his arms out.

Mingyu laughed and nodded. “That’s great!” Mingyu was beyond excited to hear this. After taking that art class for a few months, he and Wonwoo really bonded and ended up becoming pretty good friends. The boys found out they went to the same school and were only a grade apart. They started hanging out more after class and on weekends, but Wonwoo had never been to Mingyu’s house. Mingyu grew incredibly fond of Wonwoo and loved having him as a friend, and having him in the same building now was even better.

However, as excited as Mingyu was, Wonwoo was even more over the moon. But for a slightly different reason. For weeks, all he had been thinking about was the pretty boy from his art class. They became friends so quickly and Wonwoo almost instantly felt this greater connection. Mingyu was beyond awesome and Wonwoo couldn’t get over it. At first, he thought it was just because this kid was so darn cute, definitely easy on the eyes. But then, Wonwoo started paying more attention to his personality and his dorkiness and...everything. Wonwoo wasn’t sure what to make of his feelings, so he kept them to himself. He didn’t want to ruin anything.

— — —

“WONWOO! WAKE UP!” Mingyu screamed, jumping on Wonwoo’s bed. “WAKE UP WAKE UP WAKE UP!”

Wonwoo abruptly opened his eyes to find Mingyu laughing at him. “WHAT?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he screamed, still half asleep.

Mingyu smiled and dropped to his knees. “You act like this is a new thing!”

Coming to his senses a bit, Wonwoo groaned and covered his face with his blanket. “I seriously have to take that key away from you,” he said.

Laughing, Mingyu plopped himself next to his friend and shimmied under the covers. “You’ve been saying that for six months.” Throwing the blanket over his head, he joined Wonwoo underneath. “And yet, I still have it.”

Wonwoo scrunched his face in the slight darkness. He kicked Mingyu’s foot. “That key’s for emergencies!”

“This is an emergency!” Mingyu argued, kicking right back.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help smiling. “What is it?”

Mingyu flashed a toothy grin as he threw the blanket off his face. “I FINISHED MY PAINTING!”

Wonwoo pulled the blanket down and sat up. “THAT IS NOT AN EMERGENCY!”

“I WANTED YOU TO SEE IT!”

“I HATE YOU!” Wonwoo laughed, reaching over Mingyu to grab his phone from his night stand. He checked the time and screamed, “IT’S 8 IN THE MORNING!”

“COME ON!” Mingyu cried. “COME OVER AND SEE IT! I SPENT ALL NIGHT WORKING ON IT!”

As cute as Mingyu was being, Wonwoo wouldn’t give in. Smiling, he wrapped himself back up in the blanket. “NO! I’M GOING TO SLEEP!”

“HYUNG!” Mingyu whined, shaking Wonwoo.

“NO! GO AWAY!” Wonwoo laughed, even though he didn’t really mean it. He loved teasing Mingyu. It was one of his favorite pass times. The boy’s reactions were just too adorable, he couldn’t resist.

Mingyu pouted and rested his chin on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “It’s a really nice painting.”

“I’m sure it is.”

After waiting a second to see if Wonwoo would get up, Mingyu sighed in defeat. “Fine. Go back to sleep. I’ll show it to you later.” He knew getting Wonwoo to wake up early on a Saturday was a long shot, but Mingyu was still hoping that the boy would come over. After all, the painting was for him. It was supposed to be a gift for Wonwoo’s outstanding academic achievements.

Early on in the friendship, Mingyu found out that Wonwoo was quite the scholar. He was top of his class and incredibly hardworking. That meant that a lot of his time was spent studying, otherwise he’d be hanging out with Mingyu or sleeping. That’s why his mom wanted him to take art, to encourage some sort of creativity, but he never picked it up as well as Mingyu did. Mingyu just wanted to do something to show his friend how proud he was of him.

He slid out of Wonwoo’s bed and quietly headed for the door. But just as he was about to leave, he heard Wonwoo say, “I’m sure it’s beautiful.”

As those words reached his ears, Mingyu felt something he hadn’t before: his heart beating faster for no apparent reason. He didn’t know what to make of it, so he just smiled and walked out the door.

— — —

“Oh my god,” Wonwoo muttered under his smile when he saw the painting.

Mingyu beamed and shook the present in between his arms, “Don’t you love it!”

Wonwoo stepped closer and gripped it around the edges of the canvas’s frame. He could still smell the paint, but he didn’t mind. He was too surprised. “You made this for me?”

Mingyu nodded and let him take it. He was more than pleased with Wonwoo’s reaction. “Yeah, you’ve been doing so well these days, I wanted to do something for you. I thought a painting was appropriate.”

“Yeah ,” Wonwoo chuckled, still just basking in amazement.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s awesome!” To anyone else, it would seem that the painting just captured a door. They would just be looking at a plain, detailed, purple, apartment door against a subtly yellow wall in a well lit hallway, its apartment number painted in silver and its welcome mat just on the ground in front. But in Wonwoo’s eyes, he was looking at so much more.

Mingyu smiled brightly. “You get it, right?” He came around and leaned over Wonwoo’s shoulder. “I remember when we started walking home together, one night you told me about your dream place.”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo managed to say, still just in awe of how much he felt just looking at this simple piece of art.

“Well, I remembered you said something about it being an apartment in Seoul, overlooking the city. You said you loved it there the few times you’ve visited and that’s where you want to live and go to school in a couple of years. You were weirdly detailed about the place you’d be living in,” Mingyu teased, elbowing his friend. “You said the door would be purple and the halls would be yellow, warm and bright like the freakin’ sun. You wanted a welcome mat to let your neighbors know you were friendly. You said you’d make the inside super modern and ‘edgy,’ or whatever, ‘cause you thought it looked cool,” Mingyu laughed. Wonwoo glanced over at him as he chuckled. “I wanted to do more of the inside of the apartment, but it was too much detail. So I decided to let you use your imagination for that part. I know it’s just a door, but—”

“No!” Wonwoo interrupted, “No, this is perfect, Mingyu!”

Mingyu couldn’t stop smiling. He was so glad Wonwoo liked it.

“This...is perfect,” Wonwoo said again, smiling down at the picture. In his hands, he was holding his dream. Wonwoo wanted more than anything in the world to get the chance to move to Seoul. It was hours from home, but he loved it there. Something about that city made him feel whole, and that’s what he wanted for the rest of his life. This apartment was part of that want, and having Mingyu give it to him made it all even more heart-warming.

But as he was admiring the painting, he noticed the one detail he had left out in his mind that Mingyu filled in. “Did you choose the apartment number?”

“Oh yeah,” Mingyu said. “You never talked about it, so I improvised. Yeah, your favorite number’s 1 and, ya know, mine’s 7 so…”

“71?” Wonwoo read off the door.

Mingyu nodded. “It’s what I could come up with.”

Wonwoo felt his heart race faster as he clutched his gift. “It’s perfect.”

— — —

“I really don’t understand how some people can be so mean,” Mingyu groaned, kicking the ground as he walked.

It was late at night and the moon was shining over him and Wonwoo. “Ah, Mingyu, don’t let them bother you. They’re just jealous. You’ve gotten so tall lately, they want to pick on you while they still can.”

Mingyu rolled his eyes. “That jacket was really expensive, hyung.”

Wonwoo sighed. “I know.”

“What am I supposed to tell my parents?”

Wonwoo put his hand on Mingyu’s shoulder. “Tell them what happened. Tell them those bullies thought it would be funny to cut it up while you weren’t looking.”

Mingyu took a few deep breaths before saying anything else. “I’m just so tired of this.”

“I know.”

“And it’s always the same kids.” Mingyu clutched his shredded jacket in his hands.

“I know.” As calm as Wonwoo may have sounded, he was furious and he could feel his blood boiling at the thought of those kids picking on Mingyu. They would do this every few weeks when they got bored and, apparently, they had been doing it for years. Mingyu used to be a lot smaller than he was now and he didn’t have many friends. But even with his recent growth spurts and Wonwoo now by his side, that didn’t stop them from continuously pestering him.

Mingyu sighed again. For a little bit, neither of them said anything. They just walked in silence, until Mingyu laughed. Confused, Wonwoo furrowed his eyebrows. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” Mingyu chuckled. “It’s just...I used to go through this alone. I would get bullied and wait until night fell to sneak home, ‘cause they’d chase me otherwise. I used to go through hell alone.” He smiled and looked at Wonwoo. “But now, I have a friend like you, and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

Wonwoo slowly felt the rage inside of him turn into warmth. He smiled back at Mingyu and was overwhelmed with how sweet his best friend was. But just as the two were rounding a corner, Mingyu broke their gaze and vigorously started shivering, like he got the chills. He rubbed his arms, trying to increase his body temperature.

But Wonwoo knew that wasn’t going to do any good. With a grin on his face, he pulled off his jacket and placed it on Mingyu’s shoulders. “Here.”

Mingyu laughed. “Thanks, hyung.”

“No problem,” Wonwoo replied. He slowly took Mingyu’s jacket from his hands.

“You’re awesome, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo could hardly contain himself as they neared their apartment building. Whenever he talked to Mingyu, Wonwoo just felt something inside of him melt. It was horribly overwhelming, but for some reason, that night was starting to clear up his confusion. He knew what this feeling was. He was just scared to admit it.

“Mingyu-ah.” Wonwoo stopped in his tracks and stared at the other boy’s back as he walked a few more steps forward.

Mingyu stopped and turned back around. “Hm?”

Wonwoo stared at Mingyu’s adorable face, the face he had fallen...no, he couldn’t admit it yet. But he really wanted to. “I—”

He stopped. Mingyu leaned forward and raised an eyebrow, waiting. “Yeah?”

“I…” Wonwoo clenched his fists and blinked a few times. “I...just wanted you to know…” He gazed into Mingyu’s eyes, submitting to his stare. “...I’ll never let you be alone.”

Mingyu flashed a toothy smile and nodded. “I know.”

— — —

“Hey!” Mingyu cried out, waving and running towards Wonwoo.

Wonwoo was sitting at a park bench under a streetlight, but immediately stood up when he saw him coming. Normally, Wonwoo would return the eager greeting, but he couldn’t today. Instead, he shoved his hands into his pockets and smiled a little. As Mingyu got closer, Wonwoo could feel more sweat form on the back of his neck.

Noticing that Wonwoo wasn’t saying anything, Mingyu slowed to a walk and joined him, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Wonwoo quickly replied, trying to act normal. He looked up at Mingyu and gave him a more easy-going smile. “How was class?”

Mingyu laughed and sat down, relieved that Wonwoo seemed fine. “Good! We’re working with clay more now.” Wonwoo sat down next to him and happily listened. “Ms. Jung says my paintings are looking really good these days, so moving onto another medium wouldn’t hurt me, especially ‘cause I paint so much at home.” Mingyu was always so excited when he talked about art class, and Wonwoo loved it. As he kept going though, Mingyu’s puppy-like joy started to fade. He was talking about how nice it was to finally be able to physically feel the art when he trailed off.

Wonwoo could tell something was up, even in his anxious state, and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Mingyu replied, softly. But he let out a small sigh before turning back to Wonwoo. “I just wish you were still in the class.”

Wonwoo couldn’t help but start to turn pink, even though Mingyu had no idea how he was feeling. He chuckled and looked down at his hands. “Yeah, I do too. But, you know the schedules just don’t work out anymore.”

“Aish,” Mingyu muttered, playfully knocking his shoulder into Wonwoo’s. “You’re always so busy, Wonwoo. What do you even have time for these days?”

Taking a deep breath, Wonwoo smiled and looked at Mingyu’s cheek. “I have time for you.”

But Mingyu just laughed, brushing it off like he did with all of his friend’s gushy comments. “Good. ‘Cause you know I’m the most important thing in the world,” Mingyu joked.

But Wonwoo couldn’t have said it better himself. “Yeah. You kind of are.” Mingyu chuckled again and waited for Wonwoo to continue into some sort of endearing insult, but that never happened. “You’re pretty great, Mingyu-ah.”

Mingyu turned to face Wonwoo. “You are too,” he laughed.

Wonwoo could feel his heart pounding like crazy, as if it were trying to break out of his chest. This was his chance. Everything was set up. Mingyu was right there. He needed to do it. “Mingyu-ah.”

“Yeah?”

He felt his arms tense up, but Wonwoo still couldn’t. “Tell me more about the clay.”

Mingyu grinned even bigger and leaned back into the bench, looking up at the night sky. “Oh, hyung, it’s awesome! It’s so different from paint, but equally as interesting. Something about having all that goo just run through your fingers...it’s exciting! Like, I can actually mold something in my hands and it’ll be called art. It’s the stuff kids do at the park but now it’s art. I really hope I can—”

“I love you,” Wonwoo spit out. He could feel his chest nearly exploding and his ears ringing and his fingers tingling. But Mingyu didn’t notice.

“—stick with it,” Mingyu continued, getting into the topic. “If I do, I’ll probably end up taking more classes and spending more hours at the studio. Ms. Jung’s already suggested a few other teachers—”

Still trembling out of his pants, Wonwoo said it again. “I love you.”

“—who specialize in pottery and sculpting and stuff. She told me I have a lot of potential, so I might take her up on the offer. I would definitely need to find someone—”

“I love you!” Wonwoo said louder. As nervous as he was, he was almost annoyed with how oblivious Mingyu was being. At the same time, this was one of Mingyu’s traits that Wonwoo found to be adorable, just not right now.

“—who really knows the craft, ya know? I mean, the whole reason Ms. Jung’s so great is ‘cause she—”

Wonwoo couldn’t handle it anymore. “Oh my god,” he groaned under his breath as he rolled his eyes. “I LOVE YOU!” he screamed, slapping Mingyu incredibly hard on his shoulder blade.

“OWWW!” he immediately cried, turning over and rubbing the sore area. “WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!”

Wonwoo was too full of emotions and he could hardly contain himself. Giving Mingyu one of his signature glares, he screamed right in his face. “I LOVE YOU!”

“I KNOW THAT!” Mingyu yelled back, continuing to tend to his wound. “JESUS, WHY’D YOU HIT SO HARD?!”

At this point, Wonwoo was at a lost for words and he had no idea what to do with himself. Utterly confused, he shrieked, “WHAT?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN ‘YOU KNOW THAT?!’”

Mingyu scoffed and gently pushed Wonwoo back. “OF COURSE YOU LOVE ME! YOU’RE MY BEST FRIEND GODDAMNIT! YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO LOVE ME!”

So done with how stupid the boy he loved was being, Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “OH MY GOD! YOU ARE SO STUPID!”

“WHY’RE YOU BEING EXTRA MEAN TODAY?!” Mingyu yelled, half laughing as the situation started to become more amusing.

But it wasn’t for Wonwoo. “YOU’RE AN IDIOT!”

Mingyu smiled. “But you love me,” he teased.

Wonwoo’s heart was going to collapse for too many reasons: from his anxiousness, from his frustration, and from his love for this ridiculous kid. “YEAH!” he screamed, struggling to maintain his emotions. “I LOVE YOU!”

Even with the immense amount of conviction in Wonwoo’s voice, Mingyu still wasn’t catching on. “I love you, too, Wonwoo,” he chuckled.

With one last sigh, Wonwoo broke. “No, Mingyu!” He grabbed Mingyu by the face and forced him to stare right into his eyes. Shaking, he slowly repeated, “I...love...you.”

Mingyu’s entertained expression started to fade away as he finally understood what was happening. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “What?”

Wonwoo felt like he was going to die, but this was what he had been waiting for all year. He pulled Mingyu closer to him, tapping their foreheads together. “I...love...you,” he whispered.

Now it was Mingyu’s turn to freak out. He had no idea what was happening and he definitely didn’t expect what he was hearing. He still couldn’t comprehend anything. But he didn’t pull away. “Wonwoo, this isn’t funny anymore.”

But Wonwoo just closed his eyes and sighed. “I love you,” he said again.

Mingyu’s heart was beating in his ears. His mind was flooded with confusion and he had no idea what to do. What was Wonwoo saying to him? Why wasn’t he laughing? Why didn’t he explain the joke? But as Mingyu had his face so close to Wonwoo’s, he didn’t feel the need to move. Weirdly, he didn’t want to move. As those words started racing through his head, Mingyu finally started to understand some of it. “You...love...me?”

Wonwoo glanced back up at him, fearing the boy’s reaction. But Mingyu didn’t flinch. Wonwoo finally cracked and smiled a little. “I love you.”

“You love me,” Mingyu said again as Wonwoo got even closer.

And Mingyu didn’t back away. “I love you,” Wonwoo said, one last time before he didn’t need to say anymore. He’d waited so long for this confession. But he still didn’t know how Mingyu felt about all of this and he still was unsure of what could happen from this, but it didn’t matter right then. Mingyu wasn’t pulling away. So Wonwoo did the second most anticipated thing he’d wanted to do since falling in love with Mingyu.

He kissed him.


	18. More of Another

“Would you sit still please?!” Mingyu laughed as his boyfriend fidgeted in his seat.

Wonwoo groaned and tried to keep his pose. “I’ve been here for an hour and a half! If I’d known you’d paint this slowly, I never would’ve agreed to this!”

Mingyu squinted at his painting as he stroked his brush against the canvas. “You can’t rush perfection.”

“Perfection is sitting on this stool,” Wonwoo remarked.

Mingyu smiled. “Yes, perfection is.”

Even in his uncomfortable position, Wonwoo blushed a little. He and Mingyu had been together for months now, but he still flushed at every compliment.

Initially after Wonwoo had confessed, not much had changed between the two. They were still best friends and they just went on like that, but as a couple. For Mingyu, the transition needed to be slow like that, considering he didn’t really have the same feelings Wonwoo did up until that point. Wonwoo was incredibly patient, but he definitely wanted to get into the more relationship-like aspects of being with someone. He was always tempted to hug Mingyu from behind or kiss him by the ear, but he restrained himself. He knew that rushing things would just hurt them in the long run.

It wasn’t until two weeks after Wonwoo kissed him for the first time did Mingyu finally brush up against him and hold his hand, the first sign of them moving forward. Wonwoo was ecstatic and Mingyu was too. After that, it was just more baby steps. Holding hands lead to hugging from behind to kissing by the ear to kissing on the cheek to kissing...well, anywhere really.

“You’re sweet, my dear,” Wonwoo said.

“And you’re really attractive,” Mingyu replied. “I’m glad we’re both pointing out the obvious.”

Smiling into his chest, Wonwoo tried to remain still as he got to the subject he’d been meaning to talk to Mingyu about. “Hey, remember that program I told you about a little while ago?”

Focusing on his work, Mingyu answered, “The early university program in Seoul? Yeah, what about it?”

“Remember when I said I couldn’t apply because it was too much money?”

Mingyu nodded as he dipped his brush. “Uh huh.”

Wonwoo became a bit apprehensive as he continued, “Well, the school’s letting me apply anyway. They said my marks were high enough that they would waive the fee for me.”

Mingyu paused for a second before looking back at Wonwoo, his eyebrows furrowed. “Wait, so you’re actually applying?”

Wonwoo gave a weak smile as he tugged on his fingers. “I don’t know…”

Confused, Mingyu asked, “What do you mean you don’t know? This is a huge opportunity!”

“Yeah…,” he said, softly. “I know, I know it’s insane to think about right now, but Mingyu-ah I really don’t even think I have a shot of getting in—!”

“Of course you have a shot!” Mingyu shouted. A huge smile appeared on his face as he beamed with pride. “Baby, you have an AMAZING shot of getting in!”

Hesitating a bit, Wonwoo continued, “Yeah, maybe. Look, I know we only talked about this a little bit, but Mingyu if I get into this program, I don’t want you to—”

“Oh my god, don’t worry about me!” Mingyu interrupted again.

Wonwoo looked into his boyfriend’s eyes apprehensively. He’d held back telling Mingyu this for a few days because he was worried that he’d be upset. He was scared that the idea of Wonwoo leaving just when things were so good would hurt him, but as he looked at his boyfriend, all Wonwoo could see was pure excitement.

Because that’s exactly what Mingyu was feeling. “Baby, your dream is to go to Seoul! If you have the chance to do that, you take it!”

“But what about you?” Wonwoo finally asked.

“What about me?!” Mingyu laughed. From his stare, Mingyu could tell what his boyfriend was thinking. Wonwoo was always thinking of Mingyu and how he would take things, even when they weren’t together. Now that they were, Mingyu found it adorable. He put his brush down and stood in front of his boyfriend, resting his hands on his knees. “Wonwoo, you really don’t have to worry about me when it comes to stuff like this, okay?” He bent down and stared into his drooping eyes to try and give him some sort of reassurance. “I will be fine, because I love you and I know this is what you want.” Mingyu smiled even bigger and rested his forehead against Wonwoo’s. “This is what you deserve. Remember, apartment 71? That’s what this is all about.”

Wonwoo’s heart was racing and he couldn’t help but fall into his boyfriend’s lips. Kissing him gently, he pulled away and said, “I love you, too.” Mingyu rubbed his leg before standing up and getting back to work. “So you think I should apply?” Wonwoo asked.

“Definitely. You are so getting into that program.”

“It’s still up in the air,” Wonwoo corrected. “I just wanted to let you know. For now, nothing’s changed and I’m definitely not going anywhere.” He turned and raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re done with this painting so I can leave!”

Rolling his eyes, Mingyu sighed. “Fine, fine. I think I’m done. Come look at it.”

“Finally!” Eagerly, Wonwoo hopped down from his seat and scampered to stand beside Mingyu. The second he saw the piece, he stared at it, completely confused, and smacked Mingyu on the arm. “YAH! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”

Mingyu couldn’t contain himself as he started laughing hysterically. “What do you mean?!”

Wonwoo’s mouth hung open as he screamed again. “What the hell, Mingyu?! You told me you were painting me!”

“I never said that!” Mingyu argued, unable to stop his smile.

“You asked me to sit there so you could paint me!”

“No! I asked you to sit there!” Mingyu corrected, a smug look now washing over him as he watched his boyfriend get angrier. “I never said I’d be painting you!”

Wonwoo couldn’t believe it. “You had me sit there for an hour and a half so you could paint the WINDOW beside me?!” he uttered, poking his boyfriend in the chest. “WHY would you do that?!”

Laughing, Mingyu removed Wonwoo’s hand and held it in his own. He stepped closer to him and whispered, “Because I needed to paint the window, but I wanted to look at an even better view.”

Wonwoo scoffed at Mingyu’s cheesiness, even though his insides were dying from his affection. “You are such a loser.”

Mingyu was overwhelmed with how much he felt for this boy in front of him. He wrapped his arms around Wonwoo, locking his chin around his shoulder. “Yet you’re the idiot who sat there for an hour and a half.”

— — —

“MINGYU!” Wonwoo screamed, flying through Mingyu’s front door. “MINGYU! MINGYU!”

Mingyu was doing some homework, but had fallen asleep on the couch. His eyes shot open as he shot up. His vision was still blurry, but he had no problem recognizing who was yelling in front of him. “WHAT?! WHAT?!”

Wonwoo waved a piece of paper in front of him as he smiled the biggest smile possible. “I DID IT! I FUCKING DID IT!”

Mingyu jumped to his feet and took the paper, staring down at it in shock. “WHAT?!”

“YOU WERE RIGHT, BABY!” Wonwoo shrieked, shaking in his skin. “I GOT INTO THE PROGRAM! THEY ACCEPTED ME!”

Scanning the paper, Mingyu started to feel the same rush of excitement as Wonwoo. “NO WAY!” As he finished reading, he shared the same look as his boyfriend. “WONWOO!” He grabbed Wonwoo’s face and kissed him intensely. Their lips meeting just made Wonwoo tingle even more.

Wonwoo placed his hands over Mingyu’s. “I CAN’T BELIEVE I DID IT! I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!”

Mingyu laughed. “I TOLD YOU! WONWOO, YOU DESERVE THIS!”

So proud of himself and so happy that he had Mingyu to share this with, Wonwoo leaned over and wrapped his arms around his loving, supportive boyfriend. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS BABY?! I’M GOING TO SEOUL!”

Mingyu grinned as he held Wonwoo and let his head rest on his shoulder, but that expression slowly started to fade as that last statement started to sink in. Something inside of Mingyu sank as he squeezed Wonwoo tighter. All of a sudden, he was hit with this huge pang of pure hurt. Hit with a huge stream of reality, Mingyu whispered, “You’re going to Seoul.”

— — —

“How was your last day of high school?” Mingyu asked, leaning next to Wonwoo’s locker, holding a cardboard box as Wonwoo started putting stuff inside.

He sighed and smiled. “I hate to admit it, but I think I may actually miss this place.”

Mingyu scoffed. “I wouldn’t.”

“Maybe you’re right,” Wonwoo chuckled. He stared fondly into his boyfriend’s eyes and said, “I’ll probably only miss you.”

Bam. For the past few weeks, every time Wonwoo said something like that, something about missing him or not wanting to leave him or just about going away in general, Mingyu would be hit right in the chest. But he never let it show. He was there for Wonwoo and he was happy for him, so it utterly confused him why it was so hard for his body to accept that. “We’ll make it work.”

“Well, I know that,” Wonwoo replied, slamming his locker shut. “I just like seeing you every day is all.”

Bam. The two of them started making their way down the hall, lugging whatever belongings Wonwoo had to take home. He’d begun packing a few days ago and there were only a few things he had left to do before leaving in two months.

“You’re going to love seeing Seoul every day.”

His insides got all fuzzy just at the thought of his new home. “It’s going to be amazing.”

Mingyu softly smiled. “I’m so proud of you, Wonwoo.”

Now his insides were all fuzzy because of Mingyu. Ever since this whole process started, Mingyu had been nothing but supportive and Wonwoo couldn’t express how appreciative he was of that. He knew that long distance was going to be a struggle, but he had no doubt that they would beat the odds. After all, Mingyu was the boy he loved for almost two years now. There was no way any of that was going away. “I just hate that you won’t be there with me.”

Bam.

— — —

“The campus is gorgeous! You’re going to love it when you come and visit!” Wonwoo exclaimed from the other side of the phone.

“I can’t wait to see it!” Mingyu laid flat on his bed, staring at the ceiling, as he asked, “Did you manage to find an apartment close by?”

“Not yet. I saw some ads, but I haven’t called anyone or set anything up. You’d think a big program like this would provide housing, but I guess not.”

“That’s okay,” Mingyu reassured him. “At least this way you can go hunting for some place with the number 71.”

Wonwoo chuckled as he strolled through the school’s sidewalks. “Yeah, I really hope I find it.”

“You will.” There was a moment where neither of them talked. Mingyu started to get lost in his thoughts, but caught himself before he could fall too far. “So, did you sort through all the administrative stuff already?”

“Yeah, finished an hour ago. I’m glad they asked me to come out this weekend. It would’ve sucked to do all that paperwork in a few weeks when I officially move.”

“I’m glad everything’s working out,” Mingyu smiled.

Wonwoo felt butterflies in his stomach as he looked around the university. “Me too.” As he was taking in his surroundings, he felt his phone vibrate against his ear. Checking to see who was calling, Wonwoo saw that it was the administrative office again. “Hey, baby, the office people are calling me so I’m going to have to take this.”

“Oh, alright sweetie,” Mingyu quickly answered.

Wonwoo smiled. “Agh, I miss you. I love you and I’ll see you soon.”

Bam. “I love you, too.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Mingyu watched his phone screen until Wonwoo ended the call. With that, he just continued to stare at the ceiling, only now he let his thoughts engulf him.

For a while now, Mingyu had been feeling weird. Something was definitely wrong and he was definitely confused. He just couldn’t figure out why. Well, he had an idea why: his boyfriend was moving away, not just moving away but moving FAR away. And Mingyu knew that he should be supportive, and he was being supportive because he really, truly and honestly, WANTED Wonwoo to get into that program! He was so proud of him and so happy and so excited that he got to live out his dream, that he would soon enter that painting Mingyu gave him over a year ago. As his best friend and boyfriend, Mingyu knew that was his job and he was doing it, but something didn’t feel right.

For months, all the boy could talk about or think about was going to school in Seoul and how excited he was, but at the same time how much he was going to miss Mingyu. There were too many bams. but it would’ve been wrong for Mingyu to tell Wonwoo he didn’t want him to go. It would’ve been wrong to put all that pressure on Wonwoo to stay, especially since it was Mingyu who encouraged him to apply in the first place.

It was all too much for Mingyu to handle and his body really didn’t know how to deal with it. He was mad at how fast all of this was happening. He was sad that Wonwoo was going to live so far away from him. He was hurt that his boyfriend was leaving his side, abandoning him for a bigger dream. He was depressed because he was losing his best friend and he would have to go to school alone, again. He was afraid that the pretty boy across the hall would find a life without him.

And he couldn’t tell Wonwoo any of this. Mingyu could not be the reason that Wonwoo backed away from everything. Mingyu refused to do that to him. Wonwoo was always worried about what Mingyu thought, and something like this could stop him from pursuing what he really wanted.

So instead of telling him, Mingyu just sighed to himself. After a few more minutes of utter confusion, he sat up and pulled his laptop onto his thighs. He opened it, clicked on the browser, and, without any hesitation, started to look up art schools in Seoul.

— — —

“Can you help me tape this one?”

Exhaling, Mingyu walked out of the closet. “Yeah.”

He bent down and applied pressure to the top of the box as Wonwoo pulled the tape across it. “Thanks, my dear.”

“Sure.”

Wonwoo started on the next box as he watched his boyfriend get back to work. Grinning to himself, he said, “This room’s going to be so weird empty.”

“I know,” Mingyu gently replied, folding a couple t-shirts and tossing them in. “So you’re shipping all of this stuff over first?”

“Yep,” Wonwoo nodded. “It’ll go out next Wednesday and I’ll be there the day after.”

“And they know what apartment?”

He nodded again. “Apartment 808.”

Mingyu couldn’t help but chuckle. “Couldn’t get 71?”

Wonwoo gave a deep sigh. That thought had been running through his mind ever since he found the place. “No. Not a single available place in the city had the right numbers.”

“I guess 17 could suffice,” Mingyu teased.

Wonwoo shrugged. “It could, but I prefer 71.”

Usually a comment like that would wring Mingyu’s heart, but as the days counted down to Wonwoo’s departure, he started to hurt less. “I can’t believe you’re really leaving,” Mingyu whispered.

“Aww, baby.” Wonwoo stood up and went to comfort his boyfriend. Oddly enough, this was when Mingyu needed the least amount of comforting. “Nothing’s going to change.”

“But something definitely has,” Mingyu thought to himself. Mingyu was very aware of his emotions and he started realizing that his feelings were less intense these days, and that scared him. But only a little bit. He was just glad that he wasn’t constantly in pain. He was still confused, but he could deal with that later.

Mingyu smiled down at Wonwoo in his arms. “You’re right.”

“Always am,” Wonwoo laughed.

— — —

“Mingyu, hurry up!”

“The train leaves in twenty minutes! We have plenty of time.”

Wonwoo came to a stop at the platform as he rolled his one suitcase. Since all of his other possessions were being moved by truck, he only kept his most valuables with him. Taking a few deep breaths, Wonwoo hunched over. “Right, right.”

Wonwoo had been anxious all morning. He had already said goodbye to his parents, but they really didn’t make it a big deal since they were coming to help him get settled in a few days. He said goodbye to his classmates and teachers weeks ago. The only person left to say goodbye to was Mingyu. Even though nothing was supposed to change while he was gone, Wonwoo couldn’t help but be nervous about leaving his boyfriend.

And Mingyu could tell. Normally, Mingyu would do everything in his power to make Wonwoo less anxious. Normally, he would hold Wonwoo and tell him that everything was going to be fine. Normally, he would let him know how much he loved him. But he just couldn’t. As much as he wanted to, he couldn’t.

Wonwoo straightened up and looked around him. He was suddenly hit with this huge wave of excitement, the excitement he was feeling when he first found out he was moving to Seoul. “This is really happening.”

Mingyu glanced over at him and tried to share that feeling, but he couldn’t. “It is.”

Wonwoo laughed and pushed down his suitcase’s handle so he could sit on it. In disbelief, he exhaled. “I’m moving to Seoul.”

“You’re moving to Seoul.”

The usually observant Wonwoo was oblivious to Mingyu’s tone and demeanor, like he had been since he got that acceptance letter. He was too busy being hit with reality. He laughed again. “I’m going to go to school in Seoul.”

Mingyu watched him smile. “Yeah.”

Unable to control his face, Wonwoo covered it with his hands. He gave out a muffled scream. “I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!”

Bam. It wasn’t until that moment was Mingyu hit with his own burst of reality. Tears started to well up in his eyes as his voice started to shake. “I can’t either.”

Finally noticing his boyfriend, Wonwoo shot his head up. “Oh, baby!” he exclaimed, immediately hugging Mingyu. He rubbed his back as he smiled. “Mingyu, it’s okay! We’ll be okay! You’re gonna make me cry, please don’t do this,” he laughed. He extended his arms and looked into Mingyu’s pink eyes. “We can do this. Nothing’s going to change.”

And Mingyu stared right back, right back into Wonwoo’s smiling eyes. The same eyes that used to light up his world. The same eyes that would make his heart race at every glance. The same eyes that belonged to his first best friend. And his first boyfriend. His first love. Now, these eyes made him feel…

“Wonwoo…”

Wonwoo shook him a little and laughed again. “You’re being so sappy! Mingyu, I love you and I’m going to miss you. Please don’t make this harder than it already is.”

Mingyu couldn’t look at him anymore. He moved his arms away and sighed as he started to cry. “No, Wonwoo, I’m sorry. I can’t…”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “Really? I thought I was going to be the emotional one. Come on, Mingyu-ah, you’re so cute. Please—”

“No!” Mingyu snapped. “No, Wonwoo! Stop!”

Taken aback, Wonwoo stopped. His jaw hung open as he watched Mingyu cry. Completely and utterly confused, he had no idea what was happening. “Mingyu-ah. Please, I know this is hard, but we can get—”

“NO!” Mingyu shouted again, letting it ring through the train station. It was pretty early, so there weren’t many people, but those around definitely noticed. Mingyu stared at the ground as he continued, “No! It’s not that! It’s not that at all!”

Now Wonwoo was worried. Fully paying attention to Mingyu, he finally saw that something was really wrong. “Mingyu, what is—”

“I can’t do this, Wonwoo,” Mingyu blurted out. His hands were on his hips as he stared at Wonwoo.

Staring right back, Wonwoo felt his heart sink into his stomach. He wasn’t comprehending what was being said. “What?”

Letting his tears fall, Mingyu shook his head, a strong quiver in his voice as he said, “I can’t do this.”

“Wha—,” Wonwoo stammered, panic flushing over him. “Wha—what are you—Mingyu, what—?”

Mingyu continued to stare at the boy he once loved. “I can’t do this. Wonwoo, I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

It was finally starting to register. Wonwoo felt a lump in his throat. “Mingyu, stop. You’re just overreacting.”

“But I’m not,” he quickly replied. Mingyu’s chest started to ache. “I’m underreacting.”

Wonwoo furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Mingyu opened his mouth to say what he had been feeling for longer than he had known. It wasn’t until now did he realize this was what had happened. He nearly choked on his words, but he managed to spit them out. “I feel nothing.”

A piece of Wonwoo’s heart cracked. Even so, it was beating out of his body. “What? Mingyu, what—? You—you—stop! You’re really freaking me out!”

Mingyu brushed his hair from off his forehead. “I feel nothing, Wonwoo.”

“No, you’re being weird, again. You think this is funny or something—”

“Wonwoo, I feel nothing.”

Wonwoo wouldn’t take that. “—because you’re insane. This is one of your dumb jokes, isn’t it—?”

“Wonwoo, I feel nothing.”

“—because if it is, it’s really not funny. Mingyu-ah, this is a little far, even for you, so please just—”

Mingyu tried to say it one more time. “Wonwoo, I feel—”

“NO!” Wonwoo yelled, finally acknowledging his words. He was frantic. “NO! NO, STOP SAYING THAT!”

As much as he wanted to yell right back, Mingyu couldn’t even pull himself to do that. “But, it’s true.”

“THAT’S THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I’VE EVER HEARD!” Wonwoo was becoming hysterical as he stared into Mingyu’s eyes. It wasn’t until then did he notice the difference. Mingyu’s usually warm and comforting eyes were now...empty. Lunging forward, Wonwoo grabbed him by the shoulders. “PLEASE, TELL ME THIS WAS SOME SICK JOKE! PLEASE!”

“Wonwoo…” Mingyu didn’t want to look at him, but he did. “I…”

“OH MY GOD!” Wonwoo felt the first few tears escape him. “OH MY GOD!” He violently shook Mingyu, but the boy hardly reacted. “EXPLAIN!”

Mingyu stopped for a second until he really could no longer hold their gaze. The second he broke it, Wonwoo started crying into his chest. Mingyu couldn’t hold him. He just tried to explain what had confused him for so long. “I’m...so sorry Wonwoo.”

He sighed before going on. “Ever since you moving away became real, I’ve been hiding things from you. I...couldn’t tell you how I really felt...because, at first, I didn’t want it to affect your decision...because you deserve this move…”

Mingyu felt Wonwoo pause to listen. “But, it became too much and...I didn’t know what to feel. I mean, I was so happy for you...but it hurt...so bad to think about.”

He took a deep breath. “Then...those feelings started fading and I was becoming less confused. And now...I know that…”

“...you feel nothing?” Wonwoo finished for him, his voice soaked in overwhelming sadness.

Mingyu closed his eyes. “I feel nothing.”

Slowly, Wonwoo moved away from him. As he looked at that blank face, he got angrier. “That is so not fair,” Wonwoo uttered.

“I know, I didn’t know—”

“No! That is so not fair!” Wonwoo yelled.

“Wonwoo—”

“SO NOW WHAT?!” Beyond frustrated and hurt and pissed off, Wonwoo flailed his arms out as he cried, “YOU’RE LEAVING ME THEN?! YOU JUST STOPPED LOVING ME?! IT’S OVER NOW?! JUST LIKE THAT?!”

Mingyu’s heart was breaking, and he knew Wonwoo’s was too. “Wonwoo, we can’t be together—”

“OH, TO HELL WE CAN’T BE TOGETHER!” Wonwoo was furious as he glared at Mingyu. “THAT IS SO NOT FAIR! HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME ANY OF THIS?! YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TOLD ME TO APPLY!”

Mingyu had been thinking it over and he had an answer to everything now. “That was your best friend talking. Not your boyfriend.”

“OH MY GOD!” Wonwoo hollered to the ceiling, inching closer. “OH MY GOD!”

“Wonwoo—”

“YOU SON OF A BITCH!” he yelled into his face, his mind racing with way too many emotions and his body feeling all the strain. “SO YOU’RE TELLING ME YOU DON’T LOVE ME ANYMORE?!”

Mingyu didn’t answer.

The lack of a response oddly calmed Wonwoo down. He lowered his voice but was still raging. “You don’t love me anymore?!”

Still nothing.

Wonwoo dropped his shoulders and breathed heavily. “Do you?”

Mingyu swallowed hard. “No.”

Wonwoo’s heart shattered. “Mingyu!” Immediately, he reached up and grabbed Mingyu’s tear stained face. “I love you! And you love me! You can not say otherwise!”

Mingyu didn’t budge. “But, it’s gone.”

“No!” Wonwoo denied it, shaking his head as he rubbed their foreheads together. “I know you! And you’re wrong!” Clutching his face between his hands, Wonwoo stared one more time into Mingyu’s distant eyes. “I love you, Mingyu-ah!”

“Wonwoo, I—”

“No! You can’t tell me you don’t love me anymore!” Without any hesitation, Wonwoo pulled himself into Mingyu’s lips, pressing firmly and deeply. With all the built up anger and despair, Wonwoo kissed the pretty boy with all of the emotion he could render. Holding him for as long as his body would let him, Wonwoo put everything behind that kiss.

But Mingyu put nothing. As Wonwoo released, he quivered. “I love you, Mingyu.” He started sobbing again. “You can’t say you don’t love me,” he whispered.

For a moment, Mingyu let him hang on. In his own brain, Mingyu tried to search for his own love, the love he knew for sure used to exist and control his heart. But it was nowhere to be found. Finally, Mingyu took Wonwoo’s hands and removed them. “You’re going to do great things in Seoul.”

Wonwoo looked up. “Mingyu…”

Letting him go, Mingyu didn’t even give him one more glance. He turned around to head for the exit. “I don’t love you anymore.”

Wonwoo didn’t even get to see him leave. He just collapsed on the train station floor, willing to drown in his own tears. “WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED?!” he screamed in his mind.

But as much as he questioned it, he couldn’t change reality. Mingyu was gone.

— — —

“Mingyu!”

Mingyu quickly answered the call of his name and found his mom in the kitchen. “Yes?”

She was shuffling through the mail as she handed him a letter. “This came for you.”

Confused, he took the envelope. Mingyu never got mail, so he was already surprised. But that feeling quickly intensified by a million as he realized what was in his hands. “Oh my god,” he muttered under his breath.

His mom looked up. “What is it?”

Mingyu didn’t answer. He quickly ripped it open. “No no no no no…”

“Sweetie, what is it?”

Mingyu unfolded the paper and scanned it. He only needed to read one word to let his chest fall in on itself.

“Accepted.”

— — —

“Wonwoo, what’re you doing?” Seungkwan asked, plopping himself on his roommate’s bed. He picked up the newspaper clippings. “Apartment listings?”

“Mm hmm,” Wonwoo replied, not taking his eyes off what he was reading.

“Why?” Seungkwan inquired. “You’ve only been living here a month. You, Seokmin, and I were supposed to make it through this program together, remember? You can’t just bail on us in the beginning like this!”

“Yeah!” Seokmin added from the top bunk. “Plus, you’re the oldest one in this house. You have to take care of us.”

Chewing on the end of his pen, Wonwoo still didn’t look up. “We can still do that. I’m just looking for something specific.”

“What is it?”

Wonwoo paused. It was still too fresh. He didn’t want to talk about it. Folding up the newspaper, he put his pen down and sighed. “Nothing.”

— — —

“So, you’re attending the art school a few miles from here?” Soonyoung asked as his new roommate started unpacking his stuff.

Mingyu nodded. “Yeah. I applied a few months ago for a painting scholarship. It was totally on a whim. I didn’t expect to get in.”

Jihoon chuckled as he looked at some of the canvases Mingyu laid against the wall. “Well, you definitely deserved it. These look fantastic!”

He chuckled a little. “Thanks.”

“Wow, yeah, these are great!” Soonyoung exclaimed. “I really like this one!”

Mingyu turned around and paused as he saw which one he was pointing to. “Oh yeah,” Jihoon agreed. “The window’s beautiful! You captured the view perfectly!”

Mingyu felt a pinch in his chest.  “Yeah. The view was pretty great.”

— — —

Seungcheol held his breath as Wonwoo finished telling his love story. He had forgotten all about his own heartbreak and just felt everything for his friend. “Wonwoo…”

“I never found an apartment with the number 71,” he said behind his tears.

Seungcheol really didn’t know what to say, but so many things were clearing up. “So, you moved into apartment 1017 upstairs because…”

Wonwoo sighed. “...because I guess 17 could suffice.”

— — —

Jihoon was overwhelmed as Mingyu finished telling his love story. They both sat on Wonwoo’s bed and Minghao and Hansol had joined them, sitting on the floor just below. “Mingyu…,” Jihoon started to say.

“I was so wrong, Jihoon,” he said behind tears.

Jihoon didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what to do with this information just yet. It gave him a lot to think about, but for now, all he could think about was Mingyu. “You still love him,” Jihoon said, softly.

“It wasn’t nothing,” Mingyu sobbed. He fell into his hands as Minghao immediately came to his side, holding him. “It so wasn’t nothing.”


	19. Inappropriate as Needed

Jihoon reached into his pocket and groaned as he realized what had happened. “Oh my god,” he muttered. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He glared at his own front door and tried his hardest not to scream.

After talking to Mingyu yesterday, Jihoon had done a lot of thinking. Yes, his and his friend’s stories were horribly similar, but there were a lot of details that didn’t fit. Mingyu and Wonwoo were FRIENDS before all of that. They had known each other and truly loved one another. Jihoon and Seungcheol were strangers. They ran into each other in the hall. At one point, Jihoon thought he knew who Seungcheol was, but he was obviously wrong. For Mingyu, everything that happened happened for a reason. For Jihoon, everything that happened seemed unnecessary.

But at the same time, he was scared to end up like Mingyu, as horrible as that sounded. He didn’t want to regret everything and only move on to realize his feelings were still there when it was too late. So what was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to try and get Seungcheol back? Or was he supposed to continue with his life and forget the boy, the boy that didn’t even live across the hall anymore?

Jihoon felt his ears steaming up as he pulled out his phone to text Soonyoung and Mingyu. Just as he was asking when one of them would get home, he heard a familiar voice behind him. “People seem to forget their keys a lot these days.”

Jihoon quickly turned around and stared at the person who spoke in the doorway of apartment 917A. “Jeonghan.”

With a weak smile, Jeonghan crossed his arms. “Good to see you, Jihoon.”

“Uhh,” Jihoon replied, his jaw hanging open. It was only now did he realize this was the first time he had spoken to Jeonghan since that night that started this mess. He really didn’t know what to say.

“You’re locked out, aren’t you?” he gently asked.

Jihoon glanced back at his front door before replying, “Yeah.”

Jeonghan nodded as he stepped backwards. “You can wait in here if you want.”

Jihoon hesitated. For a second, he just stared. What on earth was happening? “Uhh…”

“If you stay out here, you risk running into Seungcheol.”

“What?!” Jihoon cried back, not expecting to hear that. “He moved out! Why would I see him?!”

But Jeonghan just chuckled as he gestured towards the inside of his apartment. “I’m just teasing. Sorry, I know that probably wasn’t the most appropriate thing to say.”

Exhaling, Jihoon was still uncomfortable. “Yeah, no kidding,” he softly grinned.

“I’m really sorry,” Jeonghan said again. “I know it’s been really hard on you lately.”

“You too.”

Jeonghan raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “Right…”

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Jeonghan looked at Jihoon and couldn’t help but think of how crazy it was that this guy, this guy that no one knew weeks ago, changed everything so fast. But at the same time, Jeonghan didn’t blame him for anything.

After a few more seconds, Jihoon finally sighed. “Do you need to talk to someone?”

Jeonghan laughed. “I’ve been too busy crying these past few days,” he joked. “Talking would be nice.”

Jihoon nodded and followed the boy into his apartment. As he walked in, Jihoon noticed that some of the extra things were missing from the shelves and the living space. He then realized that those were all probably Seungcheol’s things. “Wow,” he involuntarily muttered. “He really left.”

Jeonghan overheard him talking to himself and nodded. “Yeah. He took pretty much everything of his.”

Walking over to the couch, Jihoon sat himself down, awkwardly sitting on the edge of the cushion. “So you’ve been staying here alone?”

“Pretty much.” Opening the fridge, Jeonghan got out some water bottles before he made his way over to his guest. “Seokmin and Seungkwan come by often though. So does—”

“Wonwoo,” Jihoon interjected, reminded of his friend’s heartbreak. “Yeah, Seungcheol’s mentioned all of your friends before.” Tilting his head up, he said, “Thanks,” as Jeonghan handed him the water.

Sitting a fair distance away from Jihoon on the same couch, Jeonghan leaned back and stared at the ceiling. “Seungcheol really loves his friends.”

Jihoon took a sip. “He loves some more than others,” Jihoon blurted out. The second he said it, though, he regretted it. Choking on his drink, he coughed. “Sorry! That was—”

“Inappropriate,” Jeonghan finished for him, raising an amused eyebrow. Jihoon felt so bad, but Jeonghan eased his tension by laughing. “It’s fine. I don’t think either one of us can get through this conversation without bringing up how or why we’re both miserable.”

Jihoon sat back a bit. “I’m not miserable.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jeonghan remembered. “Yeah. You feel...nothing, right?”

It was the first time since all of this came up that someone talked about his lack of emotions so naturally, so nonchalant. Like it wasn’t a big deal, and that caught Jihoon off guard. “Uh, yeah.”

Jeonghan chuckled. “Sorry, it’s kind of funny ‘cause I can’t tell if that’s better or worse than feeling miserable.”

Thinking it over, Jihoon laughed, too. “I guess I don’t know either.”

There was a pause as both of them just thought of how pathetic they seemed, so much so that it was laughable. So horribly laughable. Jihoon finally broke the silence and asked, “Has Jisoo said anything to you?” He recalled the last conversation he had with Jisoo and all he could remember was that Jisoo was considering it.

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at him. “How do you know about what happened?”

“Uhhh, I ran into him in the elevator that day,” he quickly explained. “Yeah, we talked a bit.”

“Ahh.” Jeonghan tensed up before sighing deeply. “No. Nothing yet.”

“Have you tried talking to him?”

Jeonghan took a second before replying. “Jisoo and I...have known each other for a long time. We may not have been a couple during that whole time, but we were definitely something special.” He sighed again. “Every time we’ve ever fought, he’s always known where to find me so we could make up. He’s always come to me.”

“And apologized?” Jihoon questioned.

“Not necessarily. Sometimes he’ll just sit next to me and wait for me to apologize. Sometimes he’ll be on his knees begging for forgiveness. Sometimes we’ll both just wait in silence until it’s so unbearable that we just have to move on.”

Jihoon listened and tried to understand. “So, you’re waiting for him to come to you?”

“He always does,” Jeonghan said.

Scoffing, Jihoon rolled his eyes. “I’m sorry, but isn’t that a little much to ask of him in this situation? From what I know, you guys had never fought like that before. Can you HONESTLY trust that he’ll come back to you after that?”

Jeonghan watched as Jihoon expressed his concern. Even though his words were harsh, Jeonghan didn’t take any of them to heart. He knew where this guy was coming from. “I’ve been crying for days, Jihoon, thinking of exactly that.” He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “This all might’ve been too much for Jisoo to handle. Honestly, I don’t know how I would’ve taken it.” Slowly, he started to smile. “But...I really love Jisoo. That stuff doesn’t change. And if I know Jisoo at all, he still loves me. As mad as he is, he’s still my Jisoo. He loves pizza and chocolate like you wouldn’t believe. He makes us watch Disney movies in English because he loves translating the whole thing for whatever reason. He’s such a gentleman it’s almost frustrating sometimes because maybe I wanted to open the door for him!”

They both laughed as Jeonghan continued. “The point is, even through really really horrible stuff like this, I can trust my Jisoo to still be the same person. He just needs some time, like I did.” Jeonghan opened his eyes and faced Jihoon. “He’ll come back.”

Finally getting to hear Jeonghan’s side, Jihoon was starting to understand everything he did a little better, but he still had questions. “Then why didn’t you tell him about Seungcheol?” he asked. “If you have enough faith to believe he’ll always come back, why’d you keep something like that from him?” Jihoon had his suspicions, but he wanted to know for certain if they were correct.

Even while Jihoon was asking the question, Jeonghan stood up and headed for the bedroom. Once Jihoon finished, Jeonghan started talking from the other side of the wall. “Seungcheol told you, right? How we were all really good friends growing up?”

Furrowing his eyebrows, Jihoon replied, “Well, yeah. He said you guys were all really close. He failed to mention how close he wanted to be with you, though.”

Now accustomed to their pitiful jokes, Jeonghan laughed harder. “We were pretty much together all the time, Jisoo, Seungcheol, and I,” he explained as he quickly rummaged through his dresser until he pulled out what he was looking for. Heading back to the living room, he smiled and opened up the photo album in his arms to the correct page. Placing it on the coffee table for Jihoon to see, he pointed to the picture. “Seungcheol’s the one on the right, I’m on the left, and Jisoo’s in the middle.”

Jihoon leaned over to get a better look. “You guys all look exactly the same except…”

“Except my hair was shorter,” Jeonghan snickered. “Yeah, we looked like that for years. Nothing changed for years. Everything was happy and fun and...the same. We may have added a few close friends, but we were always close.”

Jihoon sat back to listen as Jeonghan continued. “Until this year. When Seungcheol confessed...I had no idea what to do.” He stared down at their photo together. “I didn’t want anything to change. I mean, I knew I had Jisoo, always. I knew that Jisoo would always come back to me. But, I was definitely scared it would come between us, so I brushed it off as...unimportant. Irrelevant. Unnecessary to ever bring up.”

“Wow,” Jihoon commented. “That’s a little harsh on Seungcheol, isn’t it?”

Jeonghan smirked and turned to him. “Look who has feelings about Seungcheol all of a sudden.”

Eyes growing wide, Jihoon turned away. “Just sounded kind of harsh.”

Satisfied, Jeonghan smiled. “Yeah, it was. I was. It was totally unfair to Seungcheol and now it just eats me alive at how horrible I was to him. But at the time, the only person I was thinking about...was Jisoo.” He paused before explaining, “Because even though I knew he would always come back to me, I was afraid…”

“...that he wouldn’t come back to Seungcheol.” Jihoon’s gaze fell back to the innocent picture of the three best friends, probably when they were all thirteen or fourteen.

“Yeah.”

“You really were just looking out for Jisoo,” Jihoon said. “You weren’t holding onto Seungcheol behind Jisoo’s back. You were just afraid that Jisoo wouldn’t hold on himself.”

“I’m glad you understand,” Jeonghan said, pleased with what great company Jihoon made.

And Jihoon thought the same. “So where does that put you and Seungcheol now?”

Jeonghan laughed. “You’ve got a lot of questions, don’t you?”

“Last one, I swear,” Jihoon replied, putting his hands up in defense.

Jeonghan hesitated as he took a deep breath. “I...don’t know.”

Jihoon tilted his head. “Really?”

“That’s the only thing that I’m really worried about,” Jeonghan said. “Because with Seungcheol...there’s nothing that I can do anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

Jeonghan scoffed. “You know exactly what I mean.” Jeonghan scooched closer to Jihoon to emphasize his point. “He may have been screaming and yelling and raging at me, but I wasn’t the one who got him like that. No matter how much Seungcheol claims he loved me, all the hurt I did to him never amounted to that much anger. Only one person could’ve done that to him. Only one person could’ve hurt him that badly.” As he listened, Jihoon knew that if these words were coming out of anyone else’s mouth that he would’ve pummeled them by now out of pure insult. But it was Jeonghan, who had a beautiful way of making anything possibly offensive just sound logical. He was making sense. “Only someone he loved more than he loved me could do that to him.”

He was making sense until that last sentence. Jihoon groaned. “Please do not tell me that that person’s me.”

“Ahh,” Jeonghan chuckled, throwing a hand on Jihoon’s shoulder and playfully clutching it. “But it is.”

Jihoon’s chest tightened as he continued to groan. “I’m so tired of everyone telling me how much I love Seungcheol or how much Seungcheol loves me,” he complained.

Now it was Jeonghan’s turn to ask the questions. “What? Why? It’s all true, isn’t it?”

Jihoon leaned over his knees and covered his face. “But it’s not!” He quickly snapped back to stare at Jeonghan. “I will admit, there was a time when I thought I was falling for Seungcheol, but we barely know each other! Since I’ve met him, I’ve spent more time trying to avoid him than talking to him! How can I possibly be in love with someone like that? How could HE possibly be in love with someone like ME?!”

Jeonghan waited to make sure Jihoon was done before saying anything. “It’s totally possible.”

“That’s what everyone says!”

“Because it’s true,” Jeonghan said. “Jihoon, trust me when I say that Seungcheol was and probably still is in love with you. Maybe you’re right that it’s crazy for that to be true, but it is. That’s all that matters. It doesn’t matter how. It doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that boy is killing himself trying to get you and he’s suffering.” He sighed. “And you’re suffering, too, aren’t you?”

“What’re you talking about? I told you I feel nothing.”

Jeonghan laughed. “Someone who feels nothing wouldn’t have jumped when I said that Seungcheol could come by in the hall. That someone wouldn’t notice how all his stuff is gone from the apartment. That same someone wouldn’t have cared about how I treated Seungcheol so harshly.”

Jihoon’s heart started beating faster as he listened to the list of reasons why he didn’t feel nothing. It was a list that he needed, to prove that maybe...Mingyu was right. Jeonghan continued to say, “I don’t know what will happen between me and Seungcheol...because it all depends on what happens with you and Seungcheol.”

Now Jihoon was really thrown off. “What? What is that supposed to mean?”

“If you and Seungcheol don’t make up, then Seungcheol and I will never make up,” Jeonghan explained. “Jihoon, Seungcheol loves you, and if he blames me for losing you, then I’ll never be forgiven.”

Jihoon almost became annoyed at what Jeonghan was implying. “So, you’re saying that not only am I responsible for myself and my relationships, but I control the same thing for you, Jisoo, and Seungcheol?”

“Yep.”

“You’re crazy.”

“I’m right, and you know it.”

Jihoon stuck his tongue in his cheek. “Okay, fine, now what?! Is that supposed to make me feel bad so I go back to the guy that completely deceived me and tried to steal his best friend’s boyfriend?! Is that what that information’s supposed to do because, I’m very sorry, that is NOT something I’m super crazy about!”

Witnessing Jihoon’s obvious frustration, Jeonghan stayed calm. “No, that’s not what that was supposed to do.”

“Then what?!” Jihoon uttered. “What was that supposed to do?!”

“That was supposed to show you how important you are to Seungcheol’s world, Jihoon.”

Jihoon closed his eyes and dropped his shoulders as he tried to regain his cool. “What?”

Lowering his voice, Jeonghan laid out everything he knew. “You may not believe that it was possible for Seungcheol to fall in love with you so quickly, but all of the facts point to that exactly. Jihoon, Seungcheol loves you. A lot. You are insanely important to him. I bet you, where ever he is right now, he’s thinking of you. He probably never stops thinking about you, even if he wants to. And because he’s always thinking of you, he can’t control anything. He can’t apologize to me or Jisoo. He won’t listen to me or Jisoo if we apologize to him. He can’t apologize to you because clearly that didn’t work, and that’s not your fault, but it’s eating him alive. He can’t fight for you because he believes you when you say you feel nothing.” Jeonghan sighed, “Even if you don’t.”

As Jihoon listened, he felt his chest ache, a lot more than it had the past week. Actually, it was almost scary how fast it was racing. He took in some deep breaths to try and slow it down. “Are you asking me to forgive him?”

“I would never ask you if I knew that you truly wanted to move on,” Jeonghan calmly replied. “And I know that we don’t know each other too well, but I have this feeling...that you don’t feel nothing.”

Sitting forward, Jihoon leaned over his knees and stared at the ground. He could feel himself start to sweat. “Is this what Mingyu was talking about?” Jihoon thought to himself. All of a sudden, his body was acting up, at least his insides were. Slowly, Jihoon breathed, letting himself feel whatever it was inside of him. Then, he said to Jeonghan, “Tell me again all the reasons why I should go back to Seungcheol.”

Jeonghan let out a puff of air as he fell back into the couch. “There are a lot.”

“Give me all of them.”

“Okay,” Jeonghan obliged. “For starters, he’s really sorry. I haven’t really talked to him about it, but from what I know about him, he is. You overheard him one night, right? If there’s anything I know about Seungcheol it’s that he never means to hurt anyone. He would never do anything like that on purpose.”

Jihoon’s heart picked up even more.

“Another thing…, Seungcheol couldn’t shut up about you when you guys first met. All I heard every day for weeks was how great Jihoon was. He raved about you. He found you so incredibly captivating that he just would never stop talking about you. If anyone ever said anything remotely related to you, he would smile. If we ever went to get coffee, he’d tell us your order. If we watched a movie and someone kissed, he’d tell us how soft your lips were on his cheek. If we walked anywhere and he saw ANYTHING pink, he’d tell us how adorable your hair was.” Jeonghan smiled and watched Jihoon. “And that’s just what he said outloud. I can only imagine what was running through his head.”

Jihoon felt his hands tingle.

“He adores you, everything about you. I remember one night after one of your dates, he asked me to stay up with him so he could just talk about you. This may sound a little creepy, but I know a lot about you, Jihoon, because Seungcheol told me everything about you that he found amazing...and it was literally everything. He told me about how you’re a bit of a recluse and how he finds it amazing that you let him into your life. He told me about how much you value your friends and how he loves that about you. He told me about your school schedule and your work ethic and your ambitions and your mindset and your passions and everything, because he adored everything about you. So much so that he couldn’t hold it in.”

Sweat started to form on the back of Jihoon’s neck. He tried to wipe it off. It was cold.

“That night he told me all of that stuff,” Jeonghan continued, “was the night that I realized he had truly moved on. Jihoon, Seungcheol stopped loving me the minute he met you. I could tell that something changed right after you left the apartment that first day. This mess that you two are in right now, it didn’t happen because he still loved me. It was a misunderstanding that got blown out of proportions. It’s not anyone’s fault, but that’s what happened. Seungcheol’s feelings for me were nothing compared to what he feels for you. I know because he told me. Why would he talk to the person he loved about someone else? Because he no longer loved me. He was too busy falling for you.”

Jihoon’s face was heating up. He couldn’t see them, but he was sure his cheeks were red.

“Seungcheol’s a good guy, Jihoon, and you know it. He has a strong heart that he lets blind himself. He will do crazy things for love. He’s someone you want to have during a storm. He’s kind, funny, charming, all good things. He values people close to him and works hard to make sure everyone’s okay. It’s only been different these days because the person he cares for the most is someone who won’t let him help. Seungcheol deserves to be happy, and he wants to make you happy. And I know it’s a lot to ask, but he deserves to be forgiven.”

Jihoon’s eyes began to well up as he slowly blinked.

“Most importantly though, and I can’t emphasize this enough,” Jeonghan said. “Seungcheol loves you. I know I keep saying it and I know you’ve probably heard it way too much by now, but he really does. He loves you. He wants to be with you. He’s willing to let everything fall by the wayside if that doesn’t happen. I don’t know if you see that as a sign of weakness or something else, but it’s a sign of his loyalty. He. Loves. You.”

Jihoon’s tears fell as his heart finally collapsed. He fell backwards into the couch as he covered his face and started panting. Jeonghan sympathetically watched. He knew what was happening.

Jihoon felt like he had been hit by a truck. His insides were spiralling and his head was pounding. Even so, he tried to form words. “Seung—seungch—cheol...lo—lo—loves...muh muh—me.”

Jeonghan smiled and sat closer to him. He wrapped his arm around his shoulder and squeezed both sides as he trembled. “Yes. Yes he does.”

“Dear god,” Jihoon muttered. He couldn’t control himself. Immediately, he shot up and shook out his arms. Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he didn’t know what to do next. “He loves me.”

Jeonghan’s grin grew even larger. This was the happiest he had felt in a week. “Yes! He loves you.”

Jihoon was freaking out. He began to pace and pull his hair. “Fucking—!” He turned back to face Jeonghan. “HE LOVES ME!”

Now Jeonghan was laughing. “YES! AND…?”

“AND…!” Jihoon started. “AND…” His chest was rising and falling like crazy. His heart felt like it had fallen out of place. His fingers were going numb. His face was on fire. His lips were blazing. His eyes were drowning. But he was hysterical. “AND!”

“AND?!” Jeonghan yelled back, trying to get the boy to finish his sentence.

A huge, seemingly inappropriate-for-the-moment smile jumped onto Jihoon’s face. “AND I LOVE HIM TOO, DON’T I?!”

Jeonghan jumped to his feet and grabbed the boy by the shoulders, shaking him. “YES YOU DO!”

“OH MY GOD!” Jihoon laughed, falling into Jeonghan’s embrace. Both of them just kept laughing uncontrollably. Neither of them could stop. As his body shook, Jihoon yelled into Jeonghan’s chest, “WE SHOULDN’T BE LAUGHING RIGHT NOW!”

“IT’S OKAY!” Jeonghan managed to say. “WE DESERVE TO LAUGH INAPPROPRIATELY!”

Jihoon squeezed Jeonghan before pushing away and saying again, “I love him, don’t I?”

Jeonghan dropped his arms and nodded. “Yes you do.”

His body still going mad, Jihoon stepped back and just smiled at everything, until he realized what all of this meant. “OH MY GOD! I LOVE SEUNGCHEOL!” he yelled as he frowned.

Chuckling, Jeonghan sat back down. “Yes, we both know that.”

“NO!” Jihoon screamed, pacing again. “I MEAN, I LOVE HIM! AND I FUCKED EVERYTHING UP! OH MY GOD! EVERYTHING’S FUCKED UP! OH MY GOD! I HURT HIM SO BAD! WHAT DO I DO?! OH MY GOD! HE’S NEVER GONNA TALK TO ME AGAIN! OH MY GOD! I FUCKED UP SO HARD!” He was really freaking out.

Seeing this, Jeonghan interjected. “HEY!”

Jihoon snapped to face him. “I FUCKED UP!”

“WE ALL FUCKED UP!” Jeonghan shouted back. “But that’s okay! What did I just tell you?”

Jihoon thought real quick. “You said a lot of things.”

“What did I just say, though?”

“That I love Seungcheol.”

“And?”

Jihoon smiled. “That Seungcheol loves me.”

Jeonghan beamed back. “He’s probably still really hurt and really upset, but he loves you. You guys can try to work it out.”

“What if he doesn’t want to work it out?”

“Trust me,” Jeonghan said. “It’s Seungcheol.”

Jihoon gave a huge sigh of relief as his mind started racing again. He just realized that it was never him who had gone looking for Seungcheol, and that made him feel pretty bad. All he had done for the past few weeks was push Seungcheol away. Now it was his turn to find him and hope, oh so desperately hope, that Seungcheol wouldn’t have the same reaction he did. “Where is he now?”

“He’s at Seungkwan and Seokmin’s.”

“I meant, where is that?”

Jeonghan stood up. “I’ll write down the address for you.”

Jihoon scratched his head as he replied, “Thank you!”

Jeonghan quickly went into his room and got out a piece of paper. He went into his phone’s address book and looked up his friend’s home info. From the room, he called out, “Are you going to—?”

“I am!” Jihoon screamed back. He was jumping up and down. Jihoon couldn’t sit still. His heart hurt like hell, but there was also this insane amount of something that made him want to scream and cry and yell and laugh and move. Mingyu was right. He felt everything.

Everything came back to him. How mad he was. How sad he was. How hurt he was. How depressed he was. How afraid he was. But for some reason, the strongest thing that he remembered was how happy he was. Seungcheol had made him so happy. And everything in his body was telling him that he needed to get that back.

Jeonghan rushed back out of the room. But before he could hand Jihoon the piece of paper, both of them heard a familiar voice.

“JIHOON! JIHOON ARE YOU HERE?!” Soonyoung screamed from outside in the hallway.

Jihoon scoffed and shook his head as his friend’s voice projected into the apartment. “Wow.”

Jeonghan laughed. “I told you. You can hear really well through these doors.”

“You’re lucky I’ve decided I love Seungcheol,” Jihoon chuckled as he headed for the door. “Otherwise that joke would’ve ripped my little heart.”

“Too soon?” Jeonghan teased.

Jihoon looked back over his shoulder. “Not anymore.” He opened the front door and found Soonyoung opening theirs. “Hey!”

Surprised, Soonyoung spun around. He had a totally shocked look on his face as he stared at Jihoon standing in Seungcheol’s old apartment. “Hey…? What are you doing in…?”

Jeonghan came up from behind Jihoon and slapped the piece of paper into his hand. “He was just getting some important information.”

Jihoon smiled up at Jeonghan and nodded. “Thanks.”

“It’s not far from here. Just a few blocks past the university.”

Jihoon stepped into the hallway and turned to his roommate, whose eyes grew wide as he thought of what could possibly be happening. “Jihoon. What’re you doing?”

With just a smile on his face, Jihoon let his everything-filled body take charge. Running down the hall for the elevator, he waved a hand up and yelled, “I’ll tell you when I get back!”

Soonyoung’s mouth hung open. He turned back to Jeonghan and slowly asked, “Is he…?”

But Jeonghan just smiled. “It’d be more appropriate for him to tell you.”


	20. Because of Everything

“I’m going to take a nap,” Seungcheol announced as he pulled himself off of the couch. He’d just been staring at the ceiling anyway, but he decided to head to his room for some official rest.

From the kitchen, Seokmin watched him. “Okay. I might be going out a little later. Just call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks,” he replied, flashing a thumbs up as he closed the door behind him.

Seokmin sighed. Today was his turn to take care of Seungcheol while Seungkwan covered Jeonghan and Wonwoo took Jisoo. But since Seungkwan had work for a few more hours, Seokmin had promised that he’d go check on Jeonghan in his place. It had been so hard seeing all of his friends in such distress, but Seokmin tried his best to be there for them. In his opinion, throughout all the rotations, his shifts with Seungcheol were always the hardest. Seungcheol was just so incredibly down that almost nothing seemed to cheer him up.

As Seungcheol plopped himself on the bed, he repeated what he was doing in the living room, just staring at the ceiling, waiting for himself to drift off. But so many thoughts were still crowding his head. Since his conversation with Wonwoo yesterday, Seungcheol couldn’t help but hurt all over. Wonwoo hadn’t seen Mingyu in years. He hadn’t talked to Mingyu in years. He hadn’t forgotten Mingyu within those years. And Seungcheol feared that that would be his fate too. Sure, he had Jihoon’s number and, yes, he knew where the boy lived, but would he ever _truly_ see him again? Would he ever see the Jihoon that he was falling in love with? Would he ever see the Jihoon that admitted to almost falling for him? Would the boy with the pink hair and soft cheeks ever look at him the same if he went to see him? Seungcheol was afraid that the answer was no.

“Then you should fight to get him back,” Seungcheol heard Wonwoo say in his head, the Wonwoo who endured the greatest heartbreak Seungcheol had ever heard of.

Seungcheol sighed. He was too tired of fighting. His body was exhausted. He had cried and he had screamed and he had hurt. He was so tired. He needed to sleep.

But just before he dozed off, Seungcheol thought of Jihoon. He didn’t think of all the pain Jihoon had caused him or all the grief, but just Jihoon. He thought of his laugh and his insanely easy-to-initiate blushing. He thought of his coffee order and class schedule. He thought of his lack of a major and his want to explore his opportunities. He thought of his warmth and his touch. His hair and his eyes. His lips. His lucky number. His apartment across the hall.

With a heavy heart, Seungcheol closed his eyes and imagined Jihoon as he fell asleep.

But Jihoon was wide awake as he imagined Seungcheol. Running down the sidewalk, he was pumping his legs like crazy as he approached the building that Jeonghan had written down. He skidded to a stop and reached for the door when he realized that it was locked. “Fuck!” he screamed. He’d forgotten to ask for the entrance code. “Goddamnit!”

He looked at the security keypad and knew that he could ask to be buzzed in, but he really didn’t want the first time he talked to Seungcheol to be over an intercom. Pacing, he thought of his options when all of a sudden an old man opened the door to exit the building. “Oh! Thank you!” Jihoon yelled, holding the door before it could shut behind the confused, old man. “Thank you!”

Entering the building, he stopped in front of the elevators and clicked the up button before he read the signs on both of them. OUT OF ORDER.

Frustrated out of his mind, Jihoon gripped his head and spun around. “ARE YOU—?!” Just then he noticed the door to the stairwell. “Just great,” he groaned, knowing his only option. Without any further hesitation, he went in and started making his way up. Going as fast as he could, Jihoon darted up the first few flights, trying to keep his stamina. “Had to be the eighth floor, didn’t it?!” Jihoon complained to himself. “The things I do for love.”

But that last thought made him smile and go even faster.

Up where Jihoon was trying to reach, Seokmin got his things from the room before leaving the apartment. Since Seungcheol was living with them now, Seokmin had given him his room so he wouldn’t have to stay on the couch. Seungkwan still had a bunk bed ever since Wonwoo left so the two of them shared.

Just as he was about to go, Seokmin sighed at the sight of Seungcheol’s bedroom door. He really hoped that his friend would get better soon.

Then there was a frantic knock at the door.

Not wanting Seungcheol to wake up, Seokmin quickly went to answer it. Right when he opened the door, his eyes grew wide and his jaw nearly fell off. Even though they’d never met before, Seokmin saw the pink hair and knew who this was. “JIHOON?!”

Panting like he hadn’t run up that many stairs in his life, which he hadn’t, Jihoon was having a hard time catching his breath. Hunched over and gasping between everything he said, he tried to make out words. “Hi! This...this...is...apartment...8...08...right?”

In utter shock, Seokmin just stared at him. “Uhh...yes! Yes it is!”

Jihoon stood up straight and finally smiled at the boy holding the door. “Good...good! You know...your elevators...they...they’re broken.”

Still staring with wide eyes, Seokmin nodded. “Uh huh!”

“You should...you should really...get someone...to...fix that…”

Still confused, Seokmin nodded again. “Right! Yes, I’ll...try to do that! Thank you!”

Finally feeling his legs and lungs starting to pull together, Jihoon stuck out his hand. “I don’t think...we’ve formally met.”

“Uhh…,” Seokmin uttered. “Right!” He quickly shook his hand. “Hi, Jihoon! I’m…”

“Seokmin,” Jihoon eagerly said. “You’re exactly like Seungcheol described you.”

Seokmin just kept staring as Jihoon smiled back at him. This was the Jihoon that he had been hearing about for weeks. This was the Jihoon that had broken his best friend’s heart. This was the Jihoon that claimed to feel nothing. This was the infamous pretty boy from across the hall. And he was nothing like Seokmin imagined, mostly because he seemed too nice and happy to be the person to cause Seungcheol so much suffering.

As that thought popped into mind, Seokmin released Jihoon’s hand and finally asked, “What’re you doing here?”

Jihoon felt this wave of anxiousness and excitement wash over him. He took a deep breath and replied, “I need to talk to Seungcheol.”

Seokmin quickly glanced back at the room then back at Jihoon. “He’s sleeping.”

“Oh,” Jihoon uttered, not expecting that for some reason. “Oh, okay, um, well, this—this is pretty important,” he stammered, getting really nervous.

Seokmin hesitated. The protective part of himself knew that letting Jihoon near Seungcheol right now wasn’t a good idea. Who knew what chaos would unravel from another encounter? But as Seokmin looked into Jihoon’s eyes, he could sense something genuine. That smile he was wearing wasn’t a mask. It was real. How could the boy who felt nothing smile like that?

But still, Seokmin had a job to do. “I don’t know if that’s a great—”

“I know,” Jihoon interrupted, closing his eyes and putting his hands up. “I know you probably really don’t like me right now. You’re a really good friend of Seungcheol’s and you’re doing best by him to not let him see me.” He let out a sigh before opening his eyes again. “But please, _please_ believe me when I tell you that I’m not here to hurt him. I just...really need to talk to him.”

Seokmin paused. He took one last glance at Seungcheol’s bedroom before saying anything else. He raised an eyebrow at Jihoon. “You sure?”

Jihoon nodded. “I promise.”

Seokmin sighed and stepped aside, opening the door a little wider. “I have to go somewhere. When I come back…”

“Don’t worry,” Jihoon smiled and stepped inside. “I promise...I won’t hurt him.”

Seokmin weakly grinned. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“I hope so too.”

With one last sigh, Seokmin left and closed the door behind him. Jihoon watched as it locked and he stood there alone. Glancing around the apartment, Jihoon became incredibly nervous. His hands started trembling and he could feel new sweat layering over his skin. “Oh my god,” Jihoon thought to himself as panic started to ensue. “What am I doing?”

But he knew exactly what he was doing. He was there to win Seungcheol back. He was just starting to freak out because he realized...he had no idea how he was going to do that. He had no speech. He had no gift. He had no real reason for the boy to forgive him other than his love. Was that enough? Clearly, when Seungcheol came to apologize, love wasn’t enough for him. Jihoon’s heart stung just thinking about that. What if that’s how Seungcheol reacted? What if he didn’t take Jihoon back? What if things were really over?

Jihoon started to get choked up just thinking about those possibilities, but he tried to shake them out. No, he was going to get Seungcheol back. He loved him way too much to give up now.

Cautiously, Jihoon walked up to Seungcheol’s door. Leaning up against it, he took a deep breath and let it out before knocking.

_Knock. Knock._

“Seungcheol?” Jihoon softly said. There was no response.

Ever so slowly, Jihoon cracked the door open. “Seungcheol?” he whispered. The second he laid eyes on the boy, his heart started racing.

Seungcheol was sound asleep, snoring softly. His head was turned away from Jihoon, facing the window, and his blanket only covered up to his waist. His toned chest gently went up and down as he breathed.

Jihoon held his breath as he entered the room. He closed the door behind him and tried not to make a sound, which didn’t make any sense since he was going to wake up the boy anyway. Still, Jihoon was watching Seungcheol in his most vulnerable state, just before Seungcheol was going to see him in his. That fear that Jihoon had earlier, of not knowing what to say, vanished. With Seungcheol in front of him, he could hardly contain himself.

“Seungcheol,” he said again, making his way to the foot of the bed.

Obviously a deep sleeper, Seungcheol didn’t react. Jihoon smiled, but at the same time felt horribly guilty. His heart gave out just thinking about how much he had hurt Seungcheol and how he wronged him. When he was sleeping was probably the only time Seungcheol felt alright. Jihoon knew what that was like. It was awful. Jihoon took one more second before he broke the boy’s peace. He climbed onto the bed and sat on top of the blanket. He sat there with his feet resting in front of him and took a few more deep breaths as he gripped Seungcheol’s leg. “Seungcheol, wake up.”

Groggy, Seungcheol felt himself being shaken and faintly heard the voice calling his name. He knew that voice anywhere, but it seemed so distant. “Jihoon?” he mumbled under his tired breath as he stretched out his arms.

Hearing his voice in a surprisingly sexy, sleepy tone made Jihoon grin like an idiot. “Hi,” was all he could say.

Now more awake, Seungcheol heard the voice clearly. He looked to the foot of his bed and his eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw that smile. Jihoon’s smile. Then, he saw the rest of the boy, his hair, his eyes, his cheeks, his body. Him. Just sitting there. On his bed. Seungcheol immediately shot up, completely surprised. “JIHOON!”

Jihoon’s heart was out of control. “Hi,” he said again.

Seungcheol had no idea what was going on. He scanned all around the room and looked like he was about to freak out. “JIHOON! WHAT—WHAT’S GOING—WHY’RE—?!”

“I’m sorry, Seungcheol,” Jihoon blurted out. He had no idea where he was going. That was just the first thing that he knew he had to say.

Seungcheol’s jaw hung open as he furrowed his eyebrows. “Jihoon…”

“I’m really sorry, Seungcheol,” Jihoon said again, lowering his tone and looking down. “I’m so so so sorry.” All of a sudden, Jihoon felt a lump in his throat. Seungcheol could hear the shaking in his voice. “I can’t say it enough. I’m _really_ , really sorry.”

Seungcheol still didn’t know what was going on, so he just listened.

Jihoon closed his eyes and let out a deep breath. He tried to hold onto the emotions he didn’t know he had, but that was proving to be difficult as he sat in front of Seungcheol. “I...was so wrong. This is all my fault. I am so sorry for everything that I’ve put you through. I’m sorry for running away from you. I’m sorry for not accepting your confession. I’m sorry for denying my feelings. I’m sorry…” He squeezed his eyes as the tears started coming. It was overwhelming how much he felt in that instance. “I’m sorry…”

“Jihoon…,” Seungcheol started to say.

“No, no don’t say anything. Please, I owe you this,” Jihoon said, not looking at the boy yet. “Everything...everything that I did to hurt you, Seungcheol...I’m so sorry. You didn’t deserve any of that. All of that stuff that I overheard about Jeonghan...it got out of hand. I was—I was—I was so dumb! I overreacted! I didn’t let you explain!” he cried, frantically trying to collect his apology. “And when you did...I—I—I was even worse! I’m so sorry, Seungcheol! I am so so sorry...for hurting you. For telling you I felt nothing. For not being the person you fell in love with. I am so sorry…”

Jihoon paused and tried to catch his breath as he tilted his head up. His gaze fell to Seungcheol’s and he immediately smiled. Jihoon knew that that face was all he needed to be okay. “I know…you don’t love Jeonghan. I know. I never had to worry about that, but I was stupid and I did. I let that hurt me...when I really shouldn’t have. Because...I know you love me. I know that everything you said that day I turned you away...you meant all of it. And I shut down. My body, my brain, my heart couldn’t take it. I thought...I felt nothing.” Through his tears, Jihoon cracked a smile and laughed. “But I was wrong!”

Seungcheol listened intensely and tried to cut in. “Jihoon…”

“Seungcheol, I was wrong!” Jihoon yelled, hysterically. “I was SO wrong! I...I didn’t feel nothing. I was...numb, or something. I just...couldn’t handle everything that I felt. And I mean EVERYTHING. It wasn’t until twenty minutes ago did I realize I was so wrong and—and—and...now I’m here!” he cried, spreading his arms up above his head. “I’m here now, Seungcheol! Because I’m an idiot!” Dropping his arms, Jihoon laughed into his chest. It was the same inappropriate laugh that he’d shared earlier with Jeonghan, one filled with self-pity. “I’m an idiot, Seungcheol. And it wasn’t until twenty minutes ago did I realize it.”

Jihoon paused for a second before he continued. “I’m an idiot. Seungcheol, you’re in love with an idiot.” Letting his smile grow even bigger, Jihoon confessed, “And that idiot loves you, too.”

Seungcheol’s eyes grew wide. “Jihoon…!”

“I love you, Seungcheol,” Jihoon said again with that huge grin. “I’m so dumb because I didn’t know how much I loved you, but I do now. I love you and I’m so sorry. The thing is…I never stopped falling for you. Since the day we met, it’s just been more and more falling. And...now...I’m sitting here…telling you all of this! I love you, Seungcheol! I don’t know how it happened so fast and I don’t know how it happened in this mess, but it did! I _love_ you! I love everything about you! I love your big eyes and your firm arms. I love how much taller you are than me. I love your face and your laugh and your nice cheeks. I love that you’re loyal and faithful to your friends. I love that you go biking every week. I love that Taeyang’s your favorite singer and that your favorite sport is basketball. I love...that your lucky number’s 17! I love EVERYTHING about you,” Jihoon frantically listed. “I. Love. You. Choi Seungcheol.”

Jihoon didn’t even give Seungcheol the chance to butt in. “And I’m sitting here...telling you all of this...just hoping that you don’t turn me away.” He choked as he spoke, but he had to go on. “I am so scared...that I’ve hurt you too badly...and that...my love just isn’t enough at this point. Seungcheol, I don’t know how you could ever forgive what I did. When you told me about your feelings and you just put yourself out there...I completely crushed you. I just...hurt you! And I’m so scared...that you’re just going to do the same to me now. The worst part is I can’t even blame you if you do that! Because that’s what I did!” Jihoon sobbed a little harder. “I...hate myself when I think about what I did to you. I cannot believe how blind I was. But, Seungcheol…” Again, he stared into the eyes of the boy he loved. “I love you so much. I’m here...begging you to give me another chance. I’m here…to fight for another chance. Because I was wrong. And...I love you too much to be turned away.”

For a moment, Seungcheol just stared right back at Jihoon. His heart was pounding in his ears and he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The whole time, he was just mesmerized by Jihoon’s image, taking in everything his sweet voice had to say. He had no idea what was going on, but he didn’t question it. He just stared.

Jihoon sat there in sheer worry. He was so afraid of what Seungcheol was going to say. Was all of that too much? Did he just scare the boy off? Was Seungcheol still too hurt to forgive him? Was this all another mistake?

But before either of them said anything else, Seungcheol lunged forward and captured Jihoon in his arms. Completely caught off guard, Jihoon screamed, “WOAH!” as Seungcheol pulled him back and they both fell onto his pillow. Laying on top of Seungcheol, Jihoon didn’t know what to do. His chest was exploding and his body tensed up. “SEUNGCHEOL—!”

“Wait!” Seungcheol immediately said, his face in Jihoon’s neck. He had his eyes closed as he hugged him tighter. “Just...wait...please…”

Hearing the boy right by his ear, Jihoon calmed down and let his body ease up. He relaxed into Seungcheol’s embrace. Turning his head, he could see the side of his face. Both of them were breathing onto each other. For a moment, Jihoon just waited. He closed his eyes and let himself stay there. His mind was going off just thinking about how close the two of them were.

But it was Seungcheol who was really going crazy. He kept breathing, slowly taking in Jihoon’s scent, as if to make sure it was Jihoon who he was holding. After a moment, he whispered, “Please tell me I’m awake.”

Jihoon opened his eyes. “What?”

Seungcheol held him tighter. “Please...please tell me this isn’t a dream.”

Jihoon smiled. He put his hands up by Seungcheol’s ears and lifted himself up. Looking down at him, Jihoon softly replied, “This isn’t a dream.”

Seungcheol felt the tears coming, but he was still in shock. He stared up at the gorgeous boy hovering above him. He looked right into Jihoon’s beautiful, tear-stained eyes and couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Then his gaze fell to the boy’s lips. Jihoon was right. This wasn’t a dream.

Filled with so many emotions, Seungcheol had so many things he wanted to say, but he knew what he wanted to do first. Grabbing Jihoon by the cheeks, he pulled the boy down and kissed him.

Seungcheol closed his eyes and kissed Jihoon. And Jihoon did just the same. Letting his body drop again, Jihoon felt every part of him melt as their lips touched. It had been weeks since Jihoon had had any contact with those lips, but those other encounters had only ever been on the cheek. This was their first real kiss. Jihoon thought his insides were going to explode as everything got hot. Without a thought, Jihoon’s hands crawled down and rested on Seungcheol’s chest as they fell into each other.

Seungcheol was just as explosive as Jihoon. Everything he had felt for this boy was coming out through this kiss. He’d been so hurt and so pained for so long, but this let it all out. All he felt now was euphoria. His whole body was in a frenzy as everything blurred together. He still couldn’t believe this was happening, and he didn’t want to open his eyes just in case it wasn’t.

But he had to. Pushing Jihoon up by the shoulders, Seungcheol couldn’t help but laugh as he started to cry. He smiled up at Jihoon and took in a deep breath, like he was coming up for air after nearly drowning. Gently, he rolled over to let Jihoon rest next to him. Their heads both on the pillow, Seungcheol just smiled at Jihoon as he softly let his tears fall.

And Jihoon did the same. He chuckled a bit and didn’t know what to say, but that was fine since it seemed like it was Seungcheol’s turn anyway.

Smiling, Seungcheol took his thumb and wiped Jihoon’s cheek. He reached down and pulled the blanket up to cover them both. Jihoon looked so adorable beside him. For a few moments, he still didn’t say anything. They just stared at each other. Until, finally…

“I love you, Jihoon.”

Jihoon’s mouth felt like it was going to fall off. He’d never smiled so hard in his life. “I love you, too.”

Seungcheol chuckled as he propped his head up on his arm. Slowly, he started saying more. “I love you...so much, Jihoon. And I’m so sorry that any of this had to happen.”

“It’s okay,” Jihoon whispered. “It’s my fault, too.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol chuckled. “It’s both of our faults.” He sighed before going on. “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too.”

Seungcheol grinned. “You’re too amazing, Jihoon. I don’t know what else to say. You’re just...amazing.”

“So...do you forgive me?”

Seungcheol’s body was just so overwhelmed, but it was a good overwhelmed. It was overwhelmed with relief. “Yes,” he smiled. “I forgive you.”

As happy as Jihoon was to hear that, he was also surprised. “Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Laughing, Seungcheol said, “What? Do you want me to say I _don’t_ forgive you?”

“No!” Jihoon immediately responded as he sat up. “No, it’s not that!” He scoffed as he looked at Seungcheol. “It’s just...didn’t I hurt you?”

Seungcheol nodded. “Yes, you did.”

“Then how can you forgive me so easily?”

Seungcheol sat up as well and took Jihoon’s hand. Jihoon immediately felt his warmth again and felt chills run down his spine. “I was really, really hurt, Jihoon. For the past weeks, I’ve just been moping from place to place, feeling so utterly devastated. And I should probably be yelling at you right now, blaming you for all of that, and giving you a hard time and just...being mad.” He cracked a smile as he went on. “But, for some reason, just seeing you...made all of that go away.”

Jihoon didn’t know what to say. “What?”

Seungcheol laughed and scooched closer to him. “Seeing you right now...this huge weight has just been lifted off of me. I don’t know how, but all of that’s gone. All of the hurt, all of the pain...it’s gone. And it feels so good. I’m not mad. I’m not upset. I’m just so happy you’re here.”

Jihoon blushed and scoffed. “Well, that’s no fair!”

“What do you mean that’s not fair?” Seungcheol laughed, getting even closer to him.

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You make me look so bad!”

“What?!”

Chuckling, Jihoon said, “You make me look _so_ bad! I give you all this crap and such a hard time and then you, Mr. Amazing, you just go and forgive me?! I was prepared to FIGHT!”

Filled with pure joy, Seungcheol laughed. “I’m tired of fighting.”

“I was ready to get yelled at!” Jihoon added. “I was ready to give you every reason why you should be with me! Then you just _forgive me_?!” He chuckled and beamed at the boy he loved so much. “How is that fair?”

Seungcheol bit his lip and got even closer. “That’s just what my heart tells me to do!”

“Well, obviously your heart’s a lot smarter than mine,” Jihoon joked.

Seungcheol smiled and pushed his forehead to Jihoon’s. “I love you, Jihoon.”

Jihoon closed his eyes. Just before they were about to kiss again, he said, “I love you, too.”


	21. Always Come Back

Seungkwan glared across the counter at Jisoo as the boy made some coffee. “You’re doing it wrong.”

Jisoo flicked his eyes up to look at his friend. “How many times do I have to tell you—”

“Yes, I get it. This is how you’ve been making your coffee for years,” Seungkwan mocked, clearly not amused. “But, I’m a professional. Will you _please_ just listen to me on this one thing?”

Jisoo chuckled and continued to make his coffee his way. “No.”

“Oh my god!” Seungkwan exclaimed, lunging over the counter. “Give me that!”

“No!” Jisoo screamed back, pulling the pot away. “This is how I like my coffee!”

“I cannot believe how stubborn you are!”

“I’m not stubborn!” Jisoo protested as he got out his favorite mug.

“Uhh, right,” Seungkwan sarcastically responded.

Jisoo scoffed and poured himself a cup. “I listen! Okay? It’s just the coffee that I’m a stickler about. I listen to you all the time.”

“Really?” Seungkwan questioned.

“Yes, really.”

“Will you listen to me now?”

“If it’s not about coffee,” Jisoo laughed as he took a sip.

Seungkwan sat up straight. “Go talk to Jeonghan.”

Jisoo choked and fell into a fit of coughing. Putting his drink down, he went to get a paper towel to clean up what he’d spit out. “Seungkwannie…”

“I know what you’ve been telling me,” Seungkwan argued. “You’ve been telling me for a week now. But come on, hyung! I mean, even Seungcheol and Jihoon made up yesterday! I know you haven’t seen them yet, but they’re so happy! Jeonghan’s just waiting for you to come back and you know it.” He slowly got up and helped his friend on the other side of the counter. “It’s time to make up.”

Jisoo sighed and thought it over. This past week had been hell. His group of friends had been split right down the middle because of what was going on. He hadn’t seen them all together in a while, and he definitely missed that. But he missed Jeonghan most of all. After talking with Jihoon that first day, he’d been thinking a lot about the whole situation. The problem for Jisoo and Jeonghan was that it wasn’t just one fight. It was months of lying from Jeonghan. And for days, Jisoo just couldn’t forgive him. He wanted Jeonghan to feel the same pain he did.

But Jihoon forgave Seungcheol yesterday. Jihoon had taken Jisoo’s advice. Was it time for him to take Jihoon’s? “I’m just so…”

“No,” Seungkwan interrupted. “No, don’t tell me what you’re feeling. Go find Jeonghan and tell him.”

Throwing away the paper towel, Jisoo leaned over the sink. Every time they had ever gotten into a fight, Jisoo had this instinctive feeling that would tell him when it was the right time to talk. Jisoo closed his eyes, took a few deep breaths, and let that feeling take over. Seungkwan was right. It was time.

“Fine,” Jisoo blurted out, heading for the front door of his apartment.

“Really?!” Seungkwan exclaimed, actually surprised that that finally worked.

“I’ll go talk to him,” he said. His chest was heavy and he wasn’t sure how to feel, but he knew it was time.

Seungkwan smiled and watched his friend put on his shoes. “Finally!” he laughed. “Send Jeonghan my regards!”

“Sure,” Jisoo replied.

“Do you know where he is?”

Jisoo smiled. “Of course I do.”

Seungkwan shared the same grin. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

He rolled his eyes and pointed at Seungkwan just before he left. “Don’t mess with my coffee.”

“I’ll have a proper pot ready when you get home,” he teased as he dumped out Jisoo’s stuff.

“No need,” Jisoo thought to himself as he headed for where he knew Jeonghan would be.

At Akkinda Coffee Shop, Jeonghan waited at the table for their order. “This place is a lot faster when Seungkwan’s working.”

Seungcheol smiled. “He’s busy today.”

“Right.” Jeonghan nodded. “Shouldn’t you be busy, too?” he asked with a suggestive smile.

“Don’t worry. Jihoon was the one who made sure I came to see you today,” Seungcheol said, gushing over the thought of his boyfriend.

“Ahh,” Jeonghan said with a grin. “I hope you know I love that boy.”

Chuckling, Seungcheol blushed. “I’m glad.” He took a second to recollect his thoughts before looking back at Jeonghan. “But I came to check on you.”

“Seungcheol, I’m—”

“I owe you a huge apology,” Seungcheol interrupted.

As the waiter finally came by and dropped off their drinks, Jeonghan sighed. “No, no you don’t.”

“Jeonghan, I owe you this as your friend,” Seungcheol explained. He looked into Jeonghan’s eyes as he continued. “We don’t even need to talk about all the stuff that happened because of my feelings for you. You were right. We’re past that...but I need you to know that I’m sorry, because you’re my best friend.”

Jeonghan felt this huge weight come off of his shoulders as Seungcheol continued. “I should’ve never yelled at you or blamed you for anything. It was never your fault and I am so, so sorry. If anything, I should be thanking you because now I have Jihoon and it’s all because we moved in together.” Seungcheol sighed and leaned over the table. “I’m so sorry, Jeonghan. I was a crap friend and now...I pushed Jisoo away from you. This whole mess that you’re in, it’s all my fault.”

Jeonghan waited to see if that’s all his friend wanted to say. When Seungcheol didn’t keep going, Jeonghan smiled. “It’s not your fault.” Seungcheol glanced up as Jeonghan explained. “Really, it’s not your fault. Jisoo would’ve found out eventually and everything would’ve happened. We were gonna fight on this at some time or another, it just happened.”

“Still,” Seungcheol insisted. “I’m sorry for all of this.”

Jeonghan took a sip of his drink. “And I forgive you.”

“Jeonghan…”

“No, really, I do!” Jeonghan laughed, realizing how distant that may have sounded. “Seriously, I don’t blame you for any of this happening. I know you know I’ve been having a hard time, but seeing you and Jihoon work things out just makes me know that love does prevail.” Seungcheol chuckled as Jeonghan said, “Jisoo was furious at me and it really really sucked, but I can take it. Because that’s what you do for love. You take the hard times and you move on. I’m just waiting for him to find me...so we can move on.”

Seungcheol smiled and drank his coffee. “You sound so confident.”

“I have to, otherwise I’d never stop crying.”

Seungcheol nodded. “I have a feeling he’ll come soon.”

“I hope you’re right.” For a moment, neither of them said anything. They just rested in the comfortable silence of their well-mended friendship.

Finally, Jeonghan asked, “So, where’s Jihoon now? I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“He has a class,” Seungcheol answered. “He’ll be out in a few hours.”

Jeonghan chuckled. “It’s funny. When stuff like this happens, you forget things like school exist.”

“Have you been missing class?” Seungcheol laughed.

“No, but I forget about it right after.” Jeonghan smiled, “It’s like the rest of the world goes on pause when you have something way more important that you’re worrying about.”

“It’s nice that way though,” Seungcheol commented. “Sometimes you just need everything to stop.”

“Yeah.” All of a sudden, a pang of hurt struck Jeonghan in the chest. He quickly shook it off and asked Seungcheol, “Hey, so now that everything’s all worked out, are you gonna move back in?”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to say something, but his attention turned to the front door as the entrance bell went off. “We can talk about that later.”

Confused, Jeonghan noticed Seungcheol’s gaze and followed it. He turned around and nearly fell out of his chair as he jumped to his feet. “Jisoo!”

For a moment, Jisoo froze by the door. Seeing Jeonghan and Seungcheol together immediately reminded him of why he didn’t want to see either of them for a while. In that split second, he was tempted to bolt, leaving them again. But he knew better. Shaking himself, he looked right at Jeonghan as his heart picked up. “Hi.”

Jeonghan was paralyzed, just staring at his boyfriend that he missed so much. Even though he’d been waiting for this, he didn’t know what to say. As for Seungcheol, he sat and watched, hoping that his presence wouldn’t interfere.

Jisoo slowly made his way over. There was no smile on his face and no hug that he offered. Without looking away from Jeonghan, Jisoo extended his hand and gently asked, “Can I talk to you?”

Jeonghan immediately nodded and took the boy’s hand. The instance they touched, Jeonghan thought he was going to pass out. He wanted so badly to scream and just throw himself on Jisoo, but he knew better. It wasn’t the time for that yet.

Jisoo felt Jeonghan’s warmth flow through his body. Even the slightest touch from Jeonghan was enough to get him like that. Trying not to fall to his knees, Jisoo finally acknowledged Seungcheol. “I heard about you and Jihoon,” he said.

Caught off guard, Seungcheol sat up and quickly replied, “Yeah.”

“I’m really happy for you guys,” he said, finally cracking a tiny smile.

Seungcheol immediately grinned. Having known Jisoo for so long, hearing the gentle tone in his voice was all Seungcheol needed to know they were going to be alright. “Thanks.”

With that and a nod, Jisoo turned his attention back to Jeonghan. “Come on.”

Seungcheol watched as the two of them walked out of the coffee shop hand in hand. He didn’t even need to hear their talk to know the outcome. As he sat there alone, Seungcheol took out his phone to text someone. “Looks like Jeonghan and Jisoo will be alright,” he sent.

It only took a minute for a response. _“Good! Now we just have to schedule a double date ;)”_ Jihoon replied.

Like a loser in love, Seungcheol smiled.

Jisoo lead Jeonghan out of Akkinda and down the sidewalk. As they walked, he slowed his pace to be right beside his boyfriend. But even though they were holding hands, neither of them said anything. For a while, it seemed like they were just mindlessly walking.

But Jeonghan’s mind was racing. He had no idea how Jisoo was remaining so calm while his insides were exploding. Just a few minutes ago, Jeonghan was expressing his confidence to Seungcheol, but now that Jisoo was with him, he was losing it. What if they really couldn’t work things out? What if Jisoo didn’t forgive him? What if this was the calm before the storm? “Oh god, he’s gonna break up with me,” Jeonghan couldn’t help but think. His tongue was getting dry and his chest was pounding at the thought of actually losing this boy.

As Jeonghan was going through all of the worst case scenarios, Jisoo was too busy trying to find where to start. What did he have to say to Jeonghan? Was he actually ready to make up? Did he need to apologize for all of this? They kept walking as Jisoo tried to go over all of this stuff that still didn’t seem to make any sense. But as he went through his head, Jisoo finally thought of Jeonghan right next to him. Jisoo had known his boyfriend long enough to realize what was running through the boy’s mind. It was funny how he knew his boyfriend’s thoughts more clearly than his own. “He’s probably freaking out,” Jisoo thought to himself.

And with that in mind, Jisoo finally said something. “I’m not breaking up with you.”

Jeonghan flinched and turned his head to look at Jisoo’s profile. “Jisoo-ah…”

“Don’t worry,” Jisoo chuckled. “I’m not breaking up with you.” He had no idea why that made him laugh, but it did.

Jeonghan was still tense. He needed to hear more.

Jisoo kept his stare forward, knowing that he would crack if he saw his boyfriend’s adorably paranoid face. He sighed and said, “I’m sorry, Jeonghan, for putting you through this. I mean...I’m sorry for yelling like that and...leaving like that.” He sighed again and looked at the ground as his chest started to ache. “I just...didn’t understand at the time. I was so mad at you and so upset…”

As Jisoo let that last thought hang, Jeonghan recalled everything that lead up to this point. All of a sudden, he became overwhelmed with emotions and he couldn’t control himself. As calm as he had seemed the past two days, it all went out the window with Jisoo right in front of him. “I’M SO SORRY, JISOO!” Jeonghan blurted out.

Jisoo was thrown off and stopped walking, forcing him to look at Jeonghan. He could see the distraught look on his face. “Jeonghan…”

“Jisoo, I’m so sorry I kept all of that from you! I shouldn’t have and I was being stupid!” Jeonghan yelled, words just falling out of his mouth as tears started to form. “I thought that if you didn’t know, things would be better for us! That all of us could just stay friends and no one would have to be weird with one another! No one would be awkward or no one would be left out or no one would be angry!” He was talking so fast, anyone other than Jisoo would’ve had a hard time understanding him. “I was just trying to keep everything the same! I wanted everything to be okay for you and all of us! I—I had no idea that something like this was gonna happen! I mean, SERIOUSLY, who could’ve guessed all of this would happen?!” Jeonghan released a hysterical chuckle as he continued to ramble. Weirdly enough, Jisoo was becoming amused with how crazy his boyfriend sounded. “Jisoo-ah, I’m so sorry I kept all of that Seungcheol stuff from you, but it…just wasn’t important! I mean, Seungcheol’s important, yes, to the both of us, but just as a friend! Now everyone can see even more clearly how NOT involved Seungcheol and I are! Jisoo, I’m so sorry for all of this! I just—I really—you just—” Jeonghan stopped to catch his breath as he just stared into Jisoo’s now smiling eyes. He sighed and hung his head as he weakly swung Jisoo’s hand. “I’m sorry, too.”

With a grin on his face, Jisoo bent down to meet Jeonghan’s gaze. “You done?” he chuckled.

Jeonghan wiped some of his crazy tears and looked back up. “Yeah.”

“Good. Because you didn’t have to say any of that.”

Feeling drained from his overwhelming emotions, Jeonghan furrowed his eyebrows. “What?”

Jisoo stepped closer to Jeonghan. “I told you that I _didn’t_ understand all that Seungcheol stuff,” Jisoo started, “but now, seeing you again, I get it. Is it okay if I keep apologizing?”

Hearing Jisoo even ask that made Jeonghan chuckle. “Even now, you’re still a gentleman.”

Jisoo took that as a yes. “I get it now, Jeonghan. You don’t need to defend yourself anymore. You were doing...what you thought was right. I know, you were looking out for me. You didn’t want anything to change between _me_ and Seungcheol, and that’s honestly so sweet. You shouldn’t have to apologize for that.” He sighed and stepped even closer to him. “But I wasn’t doing the right thing. I was...impulsive and...awful. I just lost it and I’m so, so sorry, Jeonghan. You never, EVER deserve to be treated like that and I just...I shouldn’t have yelled. I was just so angry and I didn’t think. I don’t know, just the idea of someone else wanting you as badly as I do...it was scary. It felt so bad. And for a week now, I thought I needed to keep being angry. I thought I had to stand my ground or whatever and make you feel how hurt I felt.”

Jeonghan held his breath as he listened. “But that was the stupidest thing,” Jisoo said. “I was trying to punish you, but I was only hurting myself. Baby, it was HORRIBLE being away from you. Being so angry like that, it sucked! I’m so sorry for putting you through all of this when we could’ve worked it out. I’m so sorry.”

As Jisoo was speaking, there was only a small gap between him and Jeonghan. After he was done, Jeonghan smiled. He didn’t need to think anymore. It was over. There was no need for anymore yelling or anymore fighting. The hard part was finally over. They could move on.

Then all of a sudden, Jeonghan threw his hands around the back of Jisoo’s neck and closed the gap.

Pressing their lips together, Jeonghan felt his knees give out underneath him. But as he was falling, he felt Jisoo hugging his back and pulling him in tighter. Jeonghan felt every part of him collapse into Jisoo’s body as they kissed. Nothing more needed to be said between the two of them, and that made Jeonghan’s heart beat like crazy. Even though he doubted himself towards the end, Jeonghan was right. Jisoo always came back to him.

As for Jisoo, he just wanted to hold onto Jeonghan forever. This was how he knew he was madly in love with the boy: anything was eventually easy to forgive. No matter what happened to them, Jisoo always knew when it was time to come back. His body would never let him stay away for too long. They were so in love that Jisoo was physically incapable of not being with Jeonghan.

Finally, after their incredibly needed makeup kiss, Jeonghan and Jisoo unlocked from each other but continued to hold on. Their foreheads together, they didn’t need to say much else.

“You were just trying to protect me,” Jisoo whispered.

“You were just scared of losing me,” Jeonghan whispered back.

With both of them smiling at each other, Jisoo leaned in again, but this time planting one right on Jeonghan’s cheek. “I hope you know I’m never breaking up with you,” Jisoo teased.

Jeonghan chuckled and replied, “You could try, but I know…”

“...I’ll always come back.”


	22. You're an Idiot

Mingyu stood in the middle of Hansol and Minghao’s living room, just staring at Wonwoo’s closed bedroom door. He’d been standing there for ten minutes, completely still.

Hansol and Minghao had both been on the couch, waiting for him to make a move before they left. No one said anything to make sure that Wonwoo wouldn’t hear them. They all knew that what Mingyu was there for needed to be done in private. Seeing that his friend wasn’t moving any time soon, Minghao sighed and stood up. Hansol followed. They both looked at each other and knew that they should go.

As they walked by him, Minghao gripped Mingyu’s shoulder and quietly whispered into his ear, “Just go in when you’re ready.”

“I’m never gonna be ready,” Mingyu whispered back.

And he was right. Nothing Mingyu did or said or thought could ever prepare him for seeing Wonwoo again, but ever since Jihoon and Seungcheol made up a few days ago, it’s all he could think about. Ever since he moved to the city, Mingyu played with the idea of looking for Wonwoo, but never truly felt like it. After all, he felt nothing for the boy, and for years he thought that was true. Until that one day Soonyoung and Jihoon mentioned that Wonwoo lived upstairs.

Right upstairs.

Since then, Mingyu couldn’t stop thinking about him. And the more he thought, the more he felt. For weeks, Mingyu just thought of Wonwoo. While his best friend’s love story was going on, all Mingyu could do was think about the one he let go, and he started to regret everything.

It hit him so hard and all at once that he nearly exploded. His feelings for Wonwoo just erupted in his head and heart, almost destroying him. Then he told Jihoon. Then the others all heard. Then Jihoon’s story was fixed. Leaving Mingyu broken and alone.

And now he was just a few feet away from the boy he still loved. He was going to talk to the boy he crushed and never spoke with again. He was going to see the boy he left and never looked for. How was he supposed to be ready for that?

Minghao nodded and pat his friend on the back. Without another word, Minghao and Hansol silently slipped out of the apartment, leaving Mingyu with himself.

Hearing the door lock behind him, Mingyu closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t think anymore. He had done too much of that in the last few weeks. He would never be ready, but he needed to do this. No more thoughts entered his mind.

Shaking in his pants and without any further hesitation, Mingyu walked up to Wonwoo’s door and knocked.

“Yeah?”

He froze. Just hearing that voice made his heart sink. He would know that voice anywhere. For a moment, he just stood there clutching the doorknob. No thoughts came. He slowly opened the door. “Wonwoo?”

Wonwoo sat up in his bed. He was studying for an exam he had in a few days, but all of a sudden forgot everything he was doing. He froze. His eyes locked onto the bedroom door as it slowly creaked open. Wonwoo’s heart started beating insanely fast. Too many thoughts were racing through his head as the knocker came into view. His eyes grew wide and he just stared at him. “Mingyu.”

Mingyu was staring at the ground. He couldn’t look up just yet. Slipping into the room, he gently shut the door against his back. “Hi.”

Wonwoo had no idea what to think, but his body was doing it for him. He quickly shut his textbook and moved it to the side as he inched over to sit on the edge of his bed. The whole time he was adjusting, his mouth hung open as he continued to stare at Mingyu. “Mingyu,” he said again.

Mingyu finally flicked his eyes up and met Wonwoo’s gaze. He couldn’t help but smile as his body ached. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Wonwoo said back, unable to think of anything else.

For a moment, neither of them said anything. They both just looked into each other’s eyes from across the small room.

“I’m...I’m sorry...to just drop in like this,” Mingyu managed to say in a shaky voice.

Wonwoo automatically replied with what he would’ve said to anybody else. “Oh, no, it’s fine.” But it most definitely was not fine. Even though Mingyu smiled, Wonwoo didn’t.

Mingyu nervously nodded. “How’ve you been?”

“I’ve been...good,” Wonwoo answered. “Yeah, I’d say it’s been pretty good. How about you?”

“Alright, I guess.”

Wonwoo nervously nodded. It wasn’t until now did he realize how many questions he had for this boy, but he knew better than to bring them all up at once. “I heard from my roommates that you moved out here to Seoul.”

Mingyu swallowed hard. “Yeah. I got into this art school.”

“When?”

Mingyu could hear the hurt behind the question. “Um, about two years ago.”

Wonwoo’s chest started to pound harder. “Wow. That’s great!” he said as politely as he could, even though he was dying inside. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I...had changed my number, ya know,” he struggled to explain. “I lost pretty much everything.”

“Right.”

There was an uncomfortable silence before Wonwoo sighed and asked, “So are you still painting?”

Mingyu weakly grinned. “Yeah. Not as much as I’d like though.”

“How about clay? You still working with that?” Wonwoo asked.

Mingyu frowned and looked down. “No. Not anymore. I was having a hard time…” He paused and looked back into Wonwoo’s eyes. “...feeling anything.”

Wonwoo felt like he was being punched in the gut. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault.”

Another punch. “Still.”

Again, they were both silent. No one knew what to say next. Then Wonwoo stood up. “Well,” he said as he brushed off his jeans. “It was nice seeing you, Mingyu.”

With that, Mingyu was reminded of everything he knew about his former best friend and former boyfriend, Jeon Wonwoo. That defensive tone he was using. That passive aggressive statement. That look in his eyes. Mingyu knew he was upset. More importantly, he knew he was hurt. “Wonwoo-ah…”

“Seriously, Mingyu,” he kept going. “Thanks for stopping by. Now that I know you live right downstairs, we can say hi like this whenever.”

Mingyu had seen Wonwoo like this before, but it was never Mingyu who put him in this state. He couldn’t leave him like this. “Wonwoo, I didn’t come just to say—”

“No,” Wonwoo sharply interrupted. He stopped for a second to just stare at Mingyu, the boy who left him two years ago. The boy who said he felt nothing for him. The boy who was hiding out in Seoul and didn’t decide to show up until now. He was smart enough to know why Mingyu was here. “No. I don’t want to hear it.”

If this was anyone else, Mingyu would be surprised. But this was Wonwoo. He knew him way too well. He knew this was how he would react. Even if his words were harsh, seeing the same Wonwoo let Mingyu know that not too much had changed. “Wonwoo...I—”

Annoyed, Wonwoo interrupted again. “I told you, I don’t—”

But Mingyu had to say it. “I was wrong.”

Wonwoo paused to stare at the same-old Mingyu. “Don’t give me that crap.”

“Wonwoo, I was completely—”

“You’re really stupid!” Wonwoo yelled, finally showing his true anger. “You are _really_ stupid.”

Mingyu watched Wonwoo’s face heat up and his ears get red. “Please—”

But Wonwoo wasn’t having it. He stormed over to Mingyu and stopped right in front of him, glaring up at his face. “You’re an idiot! Do you know that?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes, completely frustrated with the ridiculous kid who was once again in front of him. “Somethings never change, do they?!”

Mingyu couldn’t stand being this close to Wonwoo without being allowed to hold him, but he had to resist. “Wonwoo, I know you’re upset—”

“YOU BETTER KNOW I’M UPSET!” Wonwoo screamed. Suddenly, Wonwoo was horribly reminded of all of his feelings the last time he saw Mingyu, the last time he was screaming at him like this. He could hardly handle it. Wonwoo pulled back the hair on his forehead and turned around, pacing away from his ex. “I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU! AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!”

“Wonwoo—”

“YOU THREW ME ASIDE LIKE I WAS NOTHING! YOU SAID YOU FELT NOTHING FOR ME!”

“I was wrong.”

Wonwoo spun around and yelled, “TO HELL YOU WERE WRONG!” There were no tears coming down his face. This was pure anger and frustration.

And Mingyu could understand, so he let him go on yelling. “YOU _LEFT_ ME! YOU LEFT ME ON THE FUCKING TRAIN STATION FLOOR! YOU ABANDONED ME AS I WAS GOING TO PURSUE MY DREAM OUT HERE! I LOVED YOU AND YOU SAID YOU DIDN’T ANYMORE! YOU BROKE ME!” Wonwoo had to stop to catch his breath before he continued. “DO YOU EVEN REALIZE WHAT HELL YOU PUT ME THROUGH BACK THEN? I FELT SO ALONE BECAUSE OF YOU! I COULDN’T TRUST ANYONE TO TELL THEM WHAT HAPPENED WITH US! I SPENT EVERY PART OF ME TRYING TO FORGET YOU AND MOVE ON FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS!” Unable to handle his emotions, Wonwoo tried to compose himself and his rage. He glared into Mingyu’s puppy eyes as he exclaimed, “AND NOW YOU’RE HERE! I DON’T CARE WHY THE FUCK YOU’RE HERE, BUT YOU SHOULDN’T EVEN BE! THIS IS _MY_ CITY! SEOUL IS THE HOME THAT TRIED TO PUT ME BACK TOGETHER AFTER YOU TORE ME APART! YOU ALREADY TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO MOVE OUT HERE WITHOUT EVEN TELLING ME AND THEN JUST SHOWING UP?!” Panting aggressively, Wonwoo wanted nothing more than to punch Mingyu. Make him feel what he was feeling. Instead, he just repeated himself. “What gives you the right?”

As Mingyu listened, he felt his heart break all over again. He’d been thinking about all of the pain that Wonwoo must’ve went through after that day two years ago, but hearing him say it was just so much worse. But Mingyu wasn’t going down without a fight. “I’m really stupid,” he said with a sigh.

Wonwoo was furious, but he was oddly glad to hear that. “I KNOW THAT!”

“I...am an idiot.”

“I FUCKING KNOW THAT!”

Mingyu swallowed.  “I was wrong.”

This time, Wonwoo didn’t fire back as quickly. Hearing Mingyu say that again made him stop. He sighed and looked away. “I know that, too.”

Seeing Wonwoo calm down, Mingyu knew this was his window in. “I was wrong, Wonwoo.” He waited to see if the boy would interrupt. He didn’t. Wonwoo just stared at the wall, ready to listen. “Please, Wonwoo, I hardly know where to start with all of this but...I’m so sorry! I’m...I’m so sorry! I want to just tell you a million times how sorry I am but I know it’ll never be enough.” He sighed and looked away as well. “It’ll never be enough. What I did to you...was the dumbest thing ever. EVER. I...fucked up so hard.” Mingyu chuckled at how awful this was. “I...was so wrong. I never should’ve said or done...any of those things. Ever. Never. I was just...stupid.” Mingyu was having trouble putting his words together. Being in front of Wonwoo was making him lose all sense. His tongue was feeling dry and his energy was already drained, but he knew that he needed to keep going. This was way too important. “Wonwoo, I’m so sorry for everything I did to you. For all the crap I put you through after that. For not telling you I was here. For...being wrong.” He turned back to Wonwoo, who was now looking at him. Trying his best not to choke on his words, Mingyu said, “But I’m here...to ask for you back.”

Wonwoo’s heart stopped. He knew he was angry, but all of a sudden he felt paralyzed. He felt the blood running through his veins, as if that was the only thing keeping him alive. “Fuck you.”

“Wonwoo—”

“No, screw you, Mingyu!” Wonwoo yelled. “What the hell makes you think I would EVER want you back?!”

Mingyu stopped. He stared deep into Wonwoo’s eyes, searching for that spark that was there even when his wasn’t. Calmly, he asked, “Don’t you?”

Wonwoo didn’t answer. He’d been thinking about that ever since they broke up. For the first few months, Wonwoo dreamed about Mingyu coming back to him just like this. For a while, he wanted nothing more than just to be with Mingyu again, just to have the love of his life return to him. But after that initial phase, Wonwoo knew that he needed to forget Mingyu. He knew the only healthy thing to do was move on and try to meet other people. But that never truly happened.

As much as he hated himself for it, there was always a part of Wonwoo that wanted Mingyu back. He said he would move on, but every time Wonwoo tried going out again, it ended after the first date. Nothing sparked anything like what he had with Mingyu. There was always a part of Wonwoo that refused to let go of his first love. He told Seungcheol all about it the other day, and by now all of his friends knew it. Wonwoo did want Mingyu back. But there was no way in hell he was letting Mingyu know that.

“Even if I do,” Wonwoo spat, “why would I give you the chance to hurt me again?”

That answer was enough for Mingyu to know what Wonwoo was thinking. Mingyu stepped closer to Wonwoo. “I won’t hurt you again.”

Wonwoo hesitated. “Do you think I’m so weak that I’d go back to you after all of your shit? Do you really think I haven’t changed since we were together?”

“You have changed, just not too much,” Mingyu gently said.

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “What the hell makes you believe that I want to be with you again?”

Mingyu took another step closer. “Because you still have that painting, don’t you?”

Wonwoo was ready to move back, but he didn’t. He felt his chest loosen as he sighed. “Mingyu…”

“You still have it.”

Wonwoo shook his head and stepped away. Without looking at Mingyu, he went to his closet and opened the door. Hastily pushing some boxes aside, Wonwoo grabbed what was behind it. It wasn’t even well hidden.  “There.”

In his hand, Wonwoo clutched a painting of a single, purple door along a yellow wall with a welcome mat in the front and the number 71 painted in silver in the center. “So what?”

Mingyu’s hands were tingling. Everything about Wonwoo and this painting was hitting him all over his body. “Wonwoo…”

Wonwoo sighed and didn’t let him go on. As he was seeing that painting for himself again, Wonwoo’s initial anger started to fade. He hated himself for it, but his true feelings for Mingyu were coming back. “I still have your stupid painting. I just…” he looked up at Mingyu, who was clearly relieved to see the painting was still around. That weirdly made Wonwoo feel warm. “...couldn’t throw it out.”

Mingyu stepped forward and looked at his own artwork. Flashbacks of even before he and Wonwoo were together came to him. Still unable to comprehend all of his emotions, Mingyu suddenly blurted out, “I still love you.”

Wonwoo knew that was coming. Moving the painting out of sight, Wonwoo walked away. He placed it upside down against the wall. “You’re an idiot,” he muttered.

Mingyu couldn’t control himself. “And you still love me, too.”

“You’re an IDIOT.”

Wonwoo had his back turned to him. His heart going off like crazy, Mingyu stood behind Wonwoo and closed his eyes. “But...you still love me.”

“You’re—!”

“Wonwoo, please!” Mingyu interrupted, raising his voice for the first time. Wonwoo stayed perfectly still as Mingyu’s hands came up and clutched his shoulders. That touch was enough to make Wonwoo fall to his knees, but he stood his ground. Wonwoo wasn’t pulling away, so Mingyu knew it was alright for him to be that close. He leaned into Wonwoo’s ear, like he had done so many times when they were together, and said, in a quivering voice, “Please, Wonwoo. I still love you. Your idiot still loves you. I was so wrong because I love you more than you could ever imagine. I didn’t know it was still there. I fucking thought it was gone, but I was wrong. Wonwoo...I love you just as much as I did before, if not more. I love you. Please, _please_ , I know you’re mad, but just...just think about the possibility...of you still loving me.”

Wonwoo listened as Mingyu’s breath repeatedly brushed the back of his ear and down his neck. Thank god Mingyu couldn’t see his face because Wonwoo was losing it. His senses were being flooded with Mingyu. His body shook because of Mingyu. His mind was actually thinking about what he just said. Wonwoo sighed and dropped his shoulders. “Of course...I’ve thought about it.”

Mingyu squeezed a little harder as he waited. “I’ve thought about it...a lot.” He sighed again. “Maybe I still love you.”

Mingyu dropped his hands. He didn’t know how to handle hearing what he’d wanted to hear for a while now. Wonwoo finally turned around to face him. “And maybe...I blame myself for what happened between us.”

Now that caught Mingyu off guard. “Wonwoo, none of that—”

“Maybe I blame myself for not fighting harder for us. You were going through a lot and I...was oblivious to everything. I thought we were fine. I thought me moving wasn’t gonna be a big deal.”

“Wonwoo, I never blamed you for—”

“But I do. Part of this is my fault. Maybe,” he sighed. But he then furrowed his eyebrows at Mingyu. “But how can you be so selfish and only think about your happiness after what you did to me?”

Mingyu’s chest ached. “I’m here—”

“You’re here to try and win me back,” Wonwoo fired. “You’re here to get back together. Well, you’ve been here for two years and NOW is when you want that to happen? You’ve had all this time to try and make up with me, let us maybe be just _friends_ again and you didn’t do that. Instead, you’re here, on your own time, when you want to, to try and get me back? Mingyu, how can you be so selfish?”

Mingyu paused as Wonwoo stared into his eyes. He could now see the slight glaze over them. Both of them were getting teary. Mingyu opened his mouth and tried to word exactly what he was feeling. “I know this is selfish,” he admitted as he brushed past Wonwoo to sit on the edge of the bed. He covered his face and groaned in his hands. “I know...you should never take me back. Any sane person should’ve kicked me out right when I started talking.” He looked up again. “But Wonwoo, I was wrong...and I know I can make it up to you.”

Wonwoo crossed his arms and glanced down at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I fucked up real bad. And the person that got hurt the most out of it was you, because I was being dumb and feeling nothing. I had no consequences, until a few weeks ago when I was just hit with...everything.” He sighed and watched Wonwoo slowly come to sit next to him. “But I know that I love you too much to not even try to get you back.”

Wonwoo listened. “I cheated you out of two years of this relationship, Wonwoo. I took that away from you. In total, I took away four years of us being happy together because I know you couldn’t even think about how great we used to be after I left. I was an idiot and I ruined _everything_.” Seeing Wonwoo’s face, Mingyu knew he wouldn’t pull away, so he slowly placed his hand on top of Wonwoo’s knee, leaning in closer to the boy, trying to look into his eyes.

It took everything Wonwoo had not to run away, but there was that small part of him that loved Mingyu’s touch. “I love you, Wonwoo,” Mingyu said softly. “And I want you back...to give you everything I took away. I don’t want to just be friends again after knowing what it’s like to be with you. I want you to be happy again. I want you to be able to look back on what we used to be and be happy about that. I want to give you everything you deserve. And I would never be here asking for you if I knew that you didn’t want that.”

Wonwoo stared into Mingyu’s eyes. They were so close. Mingyu was so close. Wonwoo’s gaze fell down to the boy’s lips. He trembled, his words ringing in his ears. It hurt how nice it was to hear those things. Then, in a moment of weakness, Wonwoo’s hands shot up, grabbed Mingyu’s face, and pulled him in for a kiss.

Mingyu’s entire body felt like it was on fire. The second their lips met, he lost all control. Instinctively, his hands came to Wonwoo’s waist and he kissed him right back. It had been two years since his body felt this kind of intensity. He still loved this boy way too much.

For Wonwoo, it was even worse. Mingyu was right. He still loved him. So all of that love was just bursting out of him in that kiss. He needed that kiss to...Actually, he didn’t know why he needed that kiss. Just having Mingyu so close was too much without closing the gap.

Before Wonwoo knew it, Mingyu had crawled on top of him and they were both laying flat on his bed. They kissed and held each other like nothing had ever happened to change their love. Until Wonwoo remembered that something had. All of a sudden, Wonwoo released and pushed Mingyu’s chest up. “Stop!”

Immediately, Mingyu got up. They were both breathing heavily. Mingyu was standing on the side of the bed, his knees shaking. He had always hated the moment right after a kiss. Right now it was even worse. “I’m sorry!” he sputtered.

“No!” Wonwoo exclaimed, sitting up and pulling his hair out of his face. “No, that—that was all on me.”

Mingyu rapidly nodded, trying to catch his breath. “Right.”

For a moment, Wonwoo just sat on his bed, waiting for his head to get on straight. He couldn’t think properly having inhaled that much Mingyu. He was lightheaded, so he said the first thing that came to mind. “You didn’t look for me.”

Mingyu turned to look at Wonwoo. He smiled. “But I found you.”

Wonwoo hesitated, so Mingyu went on. “I never looked for you...but somehow here we are. Somehow, you live right above me, in apartment 1017B.” Mingyu took a second to walk over to where Wonwoo left the painting. He picked it up and flipped it around. “I’m right downstairs in 917B. Somehow, something put us together and you moved in here with my best friends. Maybe I’m wrong to say I found you.” Mingyu smiled and put the painting down again. “Because you found me.”

Wonwoo’s thoughts were finally starting to clear as Mingyu walked over to him again. “You have no idea how hard it was to find an apartment with those numbers.”

Mingyu chuckled as he sat on the bed. “I could imagine.”

Wonwoo couldn’t help but smile, even as he thought of everything awful that had happened. “You took everything from me.”

Mingyu scooched closer. “I’m so sorry,” he said, knowing nothing else was needed.

Wonwoo stared at Mingyu, letting his final feelings come to him. Mingyu was right. He still loved him. He hated himself for how much he loved him. He knew he knew better. “I know better than to go back to you.”

“Wonwoo,” Mingyu said, taking his hands. “I want to be with you...to make you happy again. You coming back to me has nothing to do with you being weak.”

Mingyu knew exactly what Wonwoo was thinking. “I’ve missed you.”

The first few tears were rolling down his cheeks. Mingyu smiled. “Me too.”

Now it was Wonwoo who moved closer. “You hurt me.”

“I’ll never, EVER do that again!” Mingyu exclaimed.

Hearing this idiot sound so genuine made Wonwoo chuckle. “You better not.”

Wonwoo’s laugh was always the sweetest thing Mingyu had ever heard. It was even more beautiful now. “Never.”

The two of them were once again right in front of each other, their noses just about to touch.

Wonwoo gave one last sigh as he stared into Mingyu’s love-infested eyes. “I hate you.”

And Mingyu broke out into the biggest smile possible. “I love you too much to believe you.”

With that, Wonwoo smiled too. Relief flooded over him and he quickly closed the gap between him and the boy he loved. If it was possible, this kiss was even more electrifying than the first. Wonwoo pulled Mingyu in close and kissed him with everything he had.

And Mingyu did the same. They fell back into Wonwoo’s bed and kissed like they hadn’t seen each other in years.

But before anything, Wonwoo smiled and unlocked from Mingyu. Staring up at the boy laying right on top of him, he said, “You’re an _idiot_!”

Mingyu grinned and pressed their lips together again. “I love you, too.”


	23. Never Forget Your Jacket

“So what’s the plan today?” Jihoon eagerly asked as he put his textbooks away and threw his backpack onto his bedroom floor.

Seungcheol smiled and leaned against the doorframe. “What do you want to do?”

Jihoon thought for a second. “I don’t know.”

“We’ll do whatever you want to,” Seungcheol said. “You’ve been studying really hard, love. Whatever you want, that’s what we’ll do.”

Jihoon smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets. Moseying over to his boyfriend, he shyly replied, “What if I don’t know what I want to do?”

Seungcheol couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. “Then I’ll help you.”

Jihoon stood in front of Seungcheol and looked up at him. Leaning his chin on the boy’s chest, he said, “Help me.”

Unable to contain his blush, Seungcheol tried his hardest to stop his heart from beating so fast. He was afraid it would hit Jihoon in the face. Looking away from the pink-haired boy rubbing up against his body, Seungcheol could hardly form words. “Umm…”

Jihoon chuckled. “Ya know, you’re a lot less smooth ever since we became official.”

Wanting to make a witty reply, Seungcheol scoffed and finally looked down. He immediately regretted it. Jihoon’s smug face was too much for him to handle. Seungcheol’s arms wrapped around Jihoon and squeezed, letting the boy’s face fall even deeper into him. Nuzzling his nose into Jihoon’s hair, Seungcheol whispered, “I’ve surrendered all of my smoothness to be with you.”

Thank god his face was buried in Seungcheol’s hug because Jihoon was flashing all shades of red. Instinctively, Jihoon’s arms coiled around Seungcheol and helped squeeze him right back. For a moment, they just stood in each other’s embrace.

“We could go for a walk,” Jihoon finally suggested in a muffled voice.

Seungcheol smiled before pulling away to see Jihoon’s satisfied face. “Walk would be nice.”

Jihoon beamed at him and nodded his chin up. “Let’s go.”

Seungcheol turned around as Jihoon followed behind him. Without even looking, he reached backwards and found Jihoon’s hand. As he naturally wrapped his fingers around Jihoon’s, Seungcheol felt his boyfriend’s warm touch and knew that he never wanted to let it go.

As the two of them made it through the living room, Seungcheol waved his free hand up at the people who had been sitting on the couch the whole time. “See you guys later!”

Jihoon smirked. “Don’t be up too late, you two!”

His arm wrapped around Wonwoo and a bowl of popcorn on his lap, Mingyu glanced backwards and smiled. “It’s like seven, hyung! We’ll be up for a while.”

“Just don’t do anything too crazy,” Jihoon corrected himself as Seungcheol opened the front door.

“No promises,” Wonwoo said, not taking his eyes off of the movie.

The two giggled, but Mingyu raised an eyebrow at Wonwoo. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Wonwoo finally turned to face him as the other couple left and shut the door. Right when he heard the door close, a huge smile came onto Wonwoo’s face. “You’re really cute, ya know that?”

“Wow,” Mingyu sarcastically said, rolling his eyes. “My Wonwoo’s actually _complimenting_ me now. Must mean he wants something.”

Wonwoo chuckled and leaned up to kiss Mingyu softly on the lips. Smiling against his face, Wonwoo whispered, “I have everything I want.”

Mingyu smiled back as he moved the bowl of popcorn and held Wonwoo tighter. “Good,” he said, before diving in for another kiss.

While those two enjoyed themselves upstairs, Seungcheol and Jihoon were stepping out of the building entrance. Immediately, Jihoon felt the cold air against his arms and hugged himself as he started to shiver. “Damnit. I forgot to grab a jacket,” he said as they started down the sidewalk.

Seungcheol smiled. “Do you want mine?”

Jihoon laughed. “Don’t you think that’s a bit cliche?”

Stopping the process of taking off his large, grey coat, Seungcheol blushed. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I can just go back up and grab one,” Jihoon said just as he was about to turn back inside.

“No, wait!” Seungcheol exclaimed, grabbing Jihoon by the wrist and pulling him back. Without saying anything else, Seungcheol twisted Jihoon by the shoulders so his back was facing him. Then, like a giant teddy bear, Seungcheol captured Jihoon in a warm, tight embrace from behind. Seungcheol pressed his body against Jihoon’s back to send him more heat. Overcome with sensation, Seungcheol rested his chin on Jihoon’s low shoulder and whispered, “I’ll be your jacket.”

Even though he was freakishly warm, Jihoon was frozen for a second. Feeling Seungcheol like this was almost too much for him to handle. His face started to heat up and he tried to stay calm. “You’re so cheesy,” Jihoon teased, looking away from him. Even though they were together, Jihoon still had a hard time dealing with how much he felt for this boy.

But Seungcheol was satisfied. He laughed and kissed Jihoon on the cheek. “But you love me.”

Jihoon sighed and turned back to look at Seungcheol’s adorable face. “Yeah, whatever,” he joked.

Seungcheol chuckled. “So, now that you’re warm, where to?”

Seungcheol’s arms were crossed on top of Jihoon’s chest, holding him tight. Jihoon unconsciously began to rub Seungcheol’s arm as he started walking, which made Seungcheol go crazy. The two of them started strolling, even though it was more of a waddle. Seungcheol had to sway back and forth to hang on and Jihoon couldn’t move very fast with a pretty boy clinging to him. But neither of them minded. They were in no rush.

“Do you want to eat something?” Jihoon asked.

“Sure! What’re you in the mood for?”

Jihoon smiled. “You can pick.”

“Let’s go somewhere that’s not freezing,” Seungcheol suggested.

“And where would that be?” Jihoon laughed.

All of a sudden, before Seungcheol could reply, there was rapid fire knocking from the place they were walking past.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Seungcheol and Jihoon both jumped and turned to their right to see what all the noise was. Quickly realizing where it was coming from, they both burst out laughing.

Mindlessly walking, Seungcheol and Jihoon didn’t notice they were passing Akkinda Coffee Shop as Seungkwan was cleaning off the front counter. Now they were all smiling at each other through the front window.

“Seungkwannie!” Seungcheol laughed. “You scared the crap out of us!”

Wearing a huge smile, Seungkwan opened the front door to the shop. “Sorry guys! Got a little too excited there!”

Jihoon chuckled as he felt Seungcheol hold him even tighter. Now with Seungkwan in front of them, Jihoon got a bit shy having his boyfriend all over him. “Good to see you, too, Seungkwan.”

“Where are you guys headed?” Seungkwan asked, observing the two of them. He softly smiled. “You look cold.”

Seungcheol said, “We’re looking for a place to eat—”

Seungkwan immediately interrupted and flew out of the door to grab Jihoon by the wrist. “EAT HERE!” Without time to object, Jihoon and Seungcheol were hauled inside by the surprisingly strong Seungkwan. “Can’t believe you guys were walking right past me and didn’t even think to come eat here.”

“Seungkwan, we were thinking more of a dinner,” Seungcheol commented as the door chimed shut behind them. “We can’t just eat muffins and—”

“We serve dinner here, too, ya know!” Seungkwan exclaimed. “You can have dinner here!”

Jihoon laughed as he gently peeled Seungcheol off of him, much to the boy’s dismay. “Seungkwan, we—”

“You can have dinner here!” Seungkwan said again. “Come on, I’ll pay!”

“You really don’t—”

“I insist!” Seungkwan cried, continuing to pull Jihoon along. “It’s not too busy tonight. I can have the chefs make you guys something nice. Doesn’t have to be on the menu.”

“That’s really sweet, Seungkwan,” Jihoon said as they were dragged to a booth in the back. “Are you sure? That seems like it’s a lot of trouble—”

“I INSIST!” Seungkwan exclaimed. Ever since Seungcheol and Jihoon got back together, Seungkwan was overjoyed to see his best friend happy again. He wanted to do anything he could to make sure that never went away.

And that made Seungcheol smile. He sat across from Jihoon as Seungkwan placed two menus in front of them. “Whatever you guys want, just say the word. I’ll get it for you.”

Seungcheol nodded as Jihoon said, “Thanks.”

“I’ll be over there. Just call me when you’re ready!” he said.

Seungcheol watched as his friend walked away, more than appreciative for having him. Then, he turned back to smile at Jihoon. “Not exactly the place I had in mind,” Seungcheol chuckled, “but it may be better.”

“Seungkwan’s sweet,” Jihoon commented.

“I’m getting flashbacks to our first date,” Seungcheol laughed.

“Me too.” For a moment, Jihoon let himself remember how nervous he felt the first time he walked in to see Seungcheol. He got butterflies just thinking about how pink his face must’ve looked that day. The way Seungcheol was able to make him blush was still beyond him. Jihoon also remembered what was going through his mind that day. He was thinking about what it would be like to be with Seungcheol. He smiled. That wasn’t even that long ago.

Seungcheol thought of that first date and couldn’t help but melt on the inside. Who knew that that innocent first date would blow up into weeks of hurt and suffering and uncertainty? Seungcheol remembered sitting at the front of the cafe, just waiting for Jihoon to come. When he first tapped that window, Seungcheol had never felt his heart stop so quickly. After hours of just amazing conversation and company, Seungcheol’s only plan at that time was to be with Jihoon. He smiled.

“That wasn’t even that long ago,” Seungcheol said.

“I know. It’s crazy to think about everything that happened.” Jihoon lifted up the menu. “It’s all a blur now.”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol added. “But I don’t think I’ll ever forget it.”

“Well, how could you? It was awful!” Jihoon weakly laughed. “I’m so sorry, ba—”

“Enough of the sorry’s!” Seungcheol chuckled, throwing his head back. “We’ve both said it enough.”

Jihoon blushed, feeling a little bad. “Yeah, but still. If you’re never gonna forget…”

“It’s not like I _want_ to forget, anyway.”

Confused, Jihoon put his menu down. He furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “What do you mean?”

Seungcheol smiled as he took off his coat. “I don’t want to forget what happened.”

Jihoon chuckled at how ridiculous this kid was being. “Sweetie, you make no sense. Why would you _ever_ want to remember what happened between us? It was utter hell to go through. I thought I felt nothing for you. I hurt you. You hurt me. It was AWFUL. We almost didn’t get together because of all that crap. Why wouldn’t you want to forget that?”

With that same warm smile on his face, Seungcheol leaned on the table and reached across to hold both of Jihoon’s hands. He slowly stroked them, making Jihoon flush a deeper shade of red. Then, he looked into Jihoon’s eyes. “You’re right when you say it was awful. All of that shit...it should’ve never happened in the first place and I’m _so_ sorry for making you go through that.”

Jihoon waited before asking, “Then what are you saying?”

“As crappy and shitty and awful as it was,” Seungcheol smiled, “I never want to forget how much I hurt for you.” Jihoon squinted, still confused, but he listened for more. Seungcheol sighed through his grin and shook his head. “You did things to my heart that I didn’t know was possible. You crushed it and...twisted it and just...ripped it right out of my body.”

“You sure you don’t want me to apologize again?”

Seungcheol laughed. “No, no. What I’m trying to say is, because I went through all of that...I know exactly how much I love you.” He clutched Jihoon’s hands tighter. “I was in so much pain...but I never stopped loving you. Even through that hell, I still loved you and wanted to fight for you. YOU were the only thing that was hurting me, but at the same time, you were the only thing that could save me.”

Jihoon listened intently, slowly starting to understand what Seungcheol meant. “I never want to forget how it felt to almost lose you,” Seungcheol continued. “Because now, I know exactly what I could lose. Jihoon-ah, I know this doesn’t really make any sense—”

“No!” Jihoon interrupted, leaning over the table. Startled, Seungcheol looked back up to find a smiling Jihoon. “It makes perfect sense.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is…”

“It was worth it.”

Seungcheol flashed a toothy grin. “Yes.”

Jihoon’s heart was pounding like crazy as Seungcheol kept going. “It was more than worth it, love.” He chuckled. “All that time, loving you broke me. I had never felt so defeated. I had never felt so exhausted, and it was all for what? For a boy who didn’t even love me back? For someone I had just met? For...love? Was all that fighting and hurting really worth...a little bit of happiness?”

Seungcheol leaned in closer, and so did Jihoon. “But now that it’s over, I know that it was so much more than just a ‘little bit of happiness’ that you give me. Jihoon-ah, I will never forget what happened with us, because I never want to forget how much you mean to me.”

They were just a few inches away as Seungcheol finished talking. Slowly, Jihoon leaned in closer to close the gap. As they kissed, Jihoon felt like he was falling. The funny thing was he had already fallen. He fell so hard for Seungcheol that it hurt.

Seungcheol didn’t want to pull back, but he had to. He smiled as Jihoon fell back into his side of the booth. They still held hands and just beamed at each other. He didn’t say anything more. He could sense that it was Jihoon’s turn.

Jihoon smiled into his chest before saying, “I won’t forget either.” Seungcheol chuckled as Jihoon looked up. “I didn’t know...that love was like that.”

“When I first met you, I didn’t know I could feel that way about anyone. I had never felt that...ever.” Jihoon sighed. “So when you first hurt me, it just...hit really hard. I didn’t think that you could love me if you could hurt me so badly. I didn’t think that _I_ could love you because you hurt me so badly. I didn’t know what love...entailed, I guess. But you’re right.”

Jihoon kept going, “I thought that I couldn’t love you because I was hurt, but it was the exact opposite. I hurt...because I loved you.” Jihoon chuckled. “And that’s what real love’s actually like, isn’t it?”

Beyond in love with the boy he was looking at, Seungcheol nodded. “Yes, baby.”

“Love isn’t supposed to be easy,” Jihoon said. “Love is…”

“...supposed to hurt,” Seungcheol finished for him. “Thank god it’s supposed to feel good, too.”

Jihoon smiled. He felt his insides get all warm and fuzzy, something that was out of his control. “I love you, Seungcheol.”

Seungcheol held his hands up and kissed the back of Jihoon’s. “I love you, too.”

Neither of them said anymore. They just sat in their own comfortable, love-filled silence. Just then, Seungkwan came rushing back to their table. “Okay! Have you guys decided what you want yet?”

“Oh,” Jihoon said, pulling his hands away from Seungcheol to look at the menu. He quickly realized how cold his palms were without Seungcheol’s warmth. “Sorry, we haven’t really looked yet. I didn’t even know you guys served dinner here.”

Seungkwan laughed and leaned over to point at the back of the menu where their dinner specials were. “We start serving dinner after 6, but you wouldn’t know that ‘cause you only come in the mornings for coffee,” Seungkwan pointed out.

“Yeah,” Jihoon chuckled, taking a closer look.

Seungcheol looked to his friend and smiled. “But I have a feeling he’ll be coming here more often, for other reasons than coffee.”

Seungkwan was about to squeal, but Jihoon cut him off. He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend. “And why’s that?”

“Well,” Seungcheol said, a small smirk escaping his lips, “what better place to tell you I adore you than Akkinda.”

Blushing like crazy, Jihoon had to cover his face with the menu as he laughed. “THAT WAS HORRIBLE!” he cried.

But Seungcheol was more than satisfied with his cheesiness and how his boyfriend was adorably reacting.

Seungkwan was not. With a straight face, Seungkwan turned and walked away. “I think I’m gonna puke.”

“I adore you too, Seungkwannie!”

For the next hour, it was more of this. More of Jihoon and Seungcheol being in love and unable to handle their feelings. After Seungkwan came back and took their orders, they just talked about everything, like they did on that first date. The biggest difference from the first date was they were no longer getting to know each other. They knew full well who they were in love with. Nonetheless, Jihoon still did a good job at throwing Seungcheol off every so often, getting him to blush in the cutest way possible. Seungcheol managed to throw in even cornier jokes as the night went on, getting the appropriate kick from Jihoon under the table.

Seungkwan would stop by to check in on how they were doing. In one of his passings, he leaned over to Jihoon and whispered, “Told you, you two would be good together.”

Jihoon nodded and flashed a huge smile. “Thanks again, Seungkwan.”

After they finished eating, Seungcheol leaned back in his seat. “Agh, I’m so full!”

“Not up for dessert?” Jihoon asked, wiping his face with a napkin.

Seungcheol smiled. “No. I already have something sweet.” He then proceeded to give Jihoon the dorkiest wink known to man.

Jihoon laughed and this time reached over the table to properly slap the boy’s arm. “I seriously don’t remember you being this lame when we first went out!”

“What?!” Seungcheol chuckled. “I told you! My smoothness is gone!”

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “You’re so lame.”

“I think the word you’re looking for is ‘lovable.’”

“Sure,” Jihoon submitted. “So, we’re done?”

“Yeah,” Seungcheol said as he grabbed his coat and scooched out of the booth. As he stood up, he reached into his pocket and took out a generous sum of money, leaving it on the table as a tip for Seungkwan. He knew his friend wouldn’t take it if he handed it to him. He smiled and reached his empty hand out to Jihoon. “Let’s go.”

Taking his boyfriend’s hand, Jihoon slid out of his seat. The two of them headed for the door, but before that Seungcheol leaned over the front counter and called to the back, “SEUNGKWANNIE! WE’RE GOING!”

Immediately, Seungkwan flew into sight. “ARE YOU SURE YOU DON’T WANT DESSERT?! AGAIN, IT’S ON—!”

“Seungkwan, thank you,” Jihoon cut him off. “But we’re good. Again, thanks so much for dinner, you really didn’t have—”

No one was able to finish a sentence in this conversation. “Don’t even worry about it!” Seungkwan hollered, smiling from ear to ear. “Anything for you two, as long as Seungcheol isn’t too corny and disgusting.”

Seungcheol opened his mouth to defend himself, but Jihoon said, “He can’t help it.”

“I’ve know this boy for more years than I can count and I have never in my life been so appalled at his level of grossness,” Seungkwan commented. “Almost makes me regret being his friend at all.”

Seungcheol chuckled as he heard someone call Seungkwan’s name from the kitchen. “It’s okay, Seungkwan. I have enough love for the both of us.” He smiled and bowed his head slightly. “Thanks again, for everything.”

Seungkwan gave the same small bow. “Any time. You guys have a good night.”

“Good night, Seungkwan!” Jihoon called out as Seungkwan headed back to work. “Ahh, he’s too good to you,” Jihoon said mockingly as Seungcheol let go of his hand.

The only reason was to put on his coat. Seungcheol chuckled and adjusted the collar as the two of them headed for the door. “Seungkwan’s great.” With a _ding_ , Seungcheol leaned into the door and held it open, waiting for Jihoon to follow him. “Come on, love. Let’s get outta here.”

Jihoon hesitated and stepped closer to the open door. He grimaced. “I can’t.”

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows. “Why not?”

Slightly flustered but overcome with anticipation, Jihoon looked at the ground and nervously rubbed the back of his neck as he softly replied, “I need my jacket.”

Seungcheol had to bite his lip to contain his giant smile. He reached forward and pulled Jihoon out into the frigid night. “Yah!” Jihoon hollered.

But as quickly as he had hit the cold, he was shielded from it. Seungcheol let go of the door and wrapped himself around Jihoon as they stood on the sidewalk. He squeezed Jihoon tight, again heating his insides. “You are so cute,” Seungcheol whispered, overwhelmed with warmth.

Blushing like crazy, Jihoon still managed to smile and hug the arms that held him. “I’m just cold. Don’t get too full of yourself.”

Seungcheol laughed as the two of them started their waddle home. Digging his face into Jihoon’s collar bone, Seungcheol smiled. “Anything to keep you warm.”

For a few steps, they just went in silence, both grinning away. Actually, they didn’t say anything else the entire way home, granted it was only a few doors down. Their conversation was through their company.

Even though it didn’t take that long, it felt like time slowed down. Jihoon closed his eyes and let himself be guided by Seungcheol, trusting his every move, his every step. He felt so good that he wished to never reach home.

At the same time, Seungcheol was just taking in everything. Jihoon’s scent was intoxicating, addictive. As he held on and held tight, Seungcheol felt like he was flying over the moon. Jihoon was too amazing for words and being able to just be with him like that was...beyond words.

But the inevitable did happen: they reached the apartment building.

Finally opening his eyes, Jihoon sighed and slowly punched in the entrance code when there was no objection from Seungcheol. He held the door open for the both of them and they silently entered. It was a lot warmer indoors, much to Jihoon’s dismay.

But Seungcheol smiled and whispered, “Wow, it’s cold in here too.”

Jihoon twisted a bit to see the smirk on Seungcheol’s face. He chuckled. “Yeah. It’s _really_ cold,” he lied.

“So cold in fact,” Seungcheol said as he hugged Jihoon tighter, this time finding both his hands to hold, “I don’t think you can take your jacket off until we get to your apartment.”

Shaking his head, Jihoon laughed and pushed the up button. “You’re probably right.”

“Wouldn’t want you to get a cold or anything.” Unable to resist himself, he slowly leaned into Jihoon’s left ear, planting a soft kiss right behind it.

And that made Jihoon squirm a bit. He closed his eyes as the elevator started coming down. “We wouldn’t want that. Then you’d get sick.”

“We can’t have that.” As if to torture Jihoon, Seungcheol pressed another kiss a bit lower. And then another. And another. All crawling down his neck. Each more enticing than the last.

Jihoon could hardly hold himself together. He swallowed and felt himself sink into Seungcheol’s body, his knees giving out. He let out a quivering breath as he said, “No, we can’t.”

It took everything in Seungcheol’s being to not collapse right there. Jihoon was killing him. He couldn’t stop kissing the boy. But just as he made it to Jihoon’s collar…

_DING!_

Jihoon’s eyes shot open and he straightened up as the elevator doors opened for them. He gave a sigh of relief. “Thank god no one was inside,” he thought to himself.

Seungcheol had to compose himself as well. He stood up straighter and cleared his throat. His reflexes were too fast, he didn’t even get to savor that last second his lips were on Jihoon’s skin.

This time with Jihoon’s force, both of them entered the elevator, smiling like drunken idiots, high off of each other. The doors closed on them when Jihoon hit 9.

Slowly the elevator went up. Jihoon smiled and sighed. “Baby.”

“Hmm?”

Jihoon blushed. “You have nice lips.”

Seungcheol chuckled and squeezed him again. “You have a nice neck.”

Laughing, Jihoon said, “I hope you know you’re not allowed to do that anymore.”

Taken aback, Seungcheol shook. “What?! WHY?! I CAN’T KISS YOUR NECK ANYMORE?!”

“Not in public!” he cried through a chuckle. “You can’t do that to me in public!”

“WHY NOT?!” Seungcheol leaned over to get a clear look at his boyfriend’s face, but he still refused to unwrap his arms.

Jihoon couldn’t look at him just yet, but he still smiled. “You make me all…”

“All what?!” he frantically asked.

Jihoon was every shade of red. “All...wobbly.”

Seungcheol paused, his smiling mouth hanging open a bit. “I make you...wobbly?”

The doors _dinged_ open and they stepped out, Jihoon regretting his word choice. “I mean,” he said, still looking away as they started down the hall, “it’s just—”

“You get wobbly,” Seungcheol clarified, getting a smug look on his face.

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Yah know what,” he laughed. “It’s getting kinda hot in here.”

Quicker than Seungcheol could react, Jihoon pulled himself out of Seungcheol’s hug and made a dash towards apartment 917B. “I don’t think I need a jacket!”

Even though he was thrown off for a second, Seungcheol caught onto the game quickly. “Yah!” he cried out, starting to run after his irresistible boyfriend. “You can’t run away from your jacket! You’re wobbly!”

Pumping his legs like crazy, Jihoon glanced over his shoulder to find his laughing boyfriend chasing after him. “No more making me wobbly!”

“You’re adorable when you’re wobbly!”

Jihoon laughed and faced forward. “Jackets aren’t supposed to do that!”

Seungcheol was exploding from how cute this boy was. “I’m a special one!”

Running as fast as he could, Jihoon finally made it to his door. Laughing his face off, he had no time to reach for his key, even though he hadn’t forgotten it this time. “MINGYU! WONWOO! OPEN UP!” he hollered, banging on the door.

But they didn’t come fast enough. Before he knew it, Seungcheol was lunging for him. “AHH!” Jihoon shrieked on impact.

“GOTCHA!” Seungcheol declared, stopping his momentum with Jihoon’s body, wrapping himself all over him.

Jihoon couldn’t stop laughing as their arms got tangled together. “NO! YOU’RE MAKING ME ALL—!”

“WOBBLY?!” Seungcheol immediately dove into Jihoon’s neck and kissed him all over.

And Jihoon was just tingling with sensation. He loved it, but at the same time he hated it. His knees were buckling and he felt all gooey and fuzzy. He was melting into Seungcheol with every kiss and he never wanted the boy to stop or remove himself, but he had to try and get away if he wanted to not be so disoriented in public.

Jihoon kept knocking on the door with that giant smile on his face. “Seungcheol!”

Enjoying this game, Seungcheol pulled Jihoon even closer to his body. “You are so cute!”

Jihoon laughed and opened his mouth to answer, but before he could, the door opened a crack. The sight behind it made Jihoon and Seungcheol’s eyes grow wide, forcing them to pause their love-infested antics.

“Hyung!” Mingyu blurted out, panting like crazy and wearing a genuine smile. “Can you guys come back later?”

For a second, Jihoon and Seungcheol just stared at him. From what they could see, Mingyu was standing there shirtless and sweaty. His skin was glistening and he sounded like he had just run a marathon. Anyone who saw him like this would’ve been thinking the same thing.

“MINGYU!” Jihoon finally shouted.

“PLEASE HYUNG!” Mingyu immediately cried back.

Jihoon scoffed as Seungcheol’s mouth just hung open. “I SAID NOT TO DO ANYTHING CRAZY!”

Mingyu was about to answer, but from inside the apartment, Wonwoo yelled, “WE DIDN’T MAKE ANY PROMISES!”

Now it was Seungcheol’s turn to react. “WONWOO!”

Wonwoo echoed his boyfriend, “PLEASE HYUNG!”

The two on the outside stared at Mingyu again. “Please, guys,” he said with a weak grin.

“MINGYU!” Jihoon shouted again.

“TWO YEARS, JIHOON!” Mingyu cried, his bare chest rising and falling rapidly. “IT’S BEEN TWO YEARS!”

Jihoon shuttered and turned away as he said one last time, “MING—!”

But the shut door cut him off. “SEE YOU GUYS LATER!” Mingyu yelled from the other side.

For a second, Jihoon and Seungcheol just stood there in disbelief. Slowly, Jihoon turned around to see that Seungcheol was wearing the same expression as him: slightly disturbed, just from the fact it was their friends doing…things.

Jihoon finally broke into a chuckle. “Well!” he laughed. “And I thought I was wobbly.”

Seungcheol joined his laughter as he took his hands. Smiling down at his boyfriend, Seungcheol couldn’t help but think of so many things, all of which made his smile even bigger. “And to think,” he said, “he wasn’t even wearing a jacket.”


	24. Moving Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up: BOLD means they're speaking Chinese

“Behind you!” Jisoo called out. He was carrying so many boxes, he couldn’t see where he was going. Having a hard time keeping his balance, he was beginning to wobble.

Jihoon turned around and helped steady the shaky boy. “Woah, careful there,” he laughed as he read the name “Seungcheol” off the cardboard. “You know where these go, Jisoo?”

Jisoo smiled and craned his neck to the side. “Yeah, I’ll just put them in the bedroom.”

Jihoon patted him on the back as Jisoo stepped into apartment 917A. “Thanks!”

“No problem!”

From the hallway, Jihoon looked into the apartment that he had called home up until now. The whole place was a mess, covered in boxes and bubble wrap. He grinned at the sight of Junhui and Chan carefully packing away the kitchen items that belonged to him and his boyfriend taping packages shut on the living room floor. Seokmin brushed past him as Seungcheol hollered, “Jihoon-ah!”

Strolling in, Jihoon answered, “Yeah?”

“Are you sure we’re gonna have room for all your stuff now that we’re living together?”

Jihoon chuckled and knelt down to help. “How much stuff do you think I have?”

Seungcheol glanced around. “Well, just based on everything that’s packed, I’d say a lot.”

“Not all of this is mine. A lot of this stuff’s Soonyoung’s. Wonwoo’s stuff’s starting to pile in, too,” Jihoon explained as he pulled out a sharpie to mark his belongings.

“Still,” Seungcheol laughed. “There’s only one bedroom across the hall. I don’t want it to be too cramped for you.”

“Trust me,” Jihoon said, leaning over the box. “I’ll be perfectly comfortable living with you.”

Seungcheol grinned and followed his boyfriend’s lead to meet him in a kiss. From the kitchen, Chan glanced up and smiled. “Aww,” he exclaimed. “They’re so happy.”

Junhui looked up to see what his friend was talking about and smiled too. “I’m glad everything’s working out for everyone.” Sealing the box of plates shut, he lifted it off the counter and headed for the door. “Come on. Let’s take this across the hall.”

Chan nodded and grabbed the tape as the two of them walked out. “I can’t believe everyone’s moving though. This is gonna take forever,” he said as they entered the other apartment. Jeonghan was packing up his stuff in the bedroom while Jisoo and Seungkwan were bringing Seungcheol’s things up from the moving van.

Minghao, who was packing up Jeonghan’s kitchen items, joined his friends’ conversation. “Well, it all makes sense. All these happy couples want to live together now.”

“I get that,” Chan agreed as he started to help out Minghao. “It’s just kinda crazy how things worked out. Now, Jihoon and Seungcheol are gonna live here, Jeonghan’s moving out to live with Jisoo, Wonwoo’s moving in with Mingyu across the hall, and Soonyoung’s gonna be upstairs with you guys.”

Minghao smiled. “A lot of happy couples, my friend. They just want to be together all the time.”

Before Chan could comment, Junhui put his elbows on the counter and rested his chin on his fists. With a sly grin, he said in Chinese, **“You know, you can always be part of a happy couple.”**

Not even slightly surprised, Chan scoffed while Minghao just rolled his eyes and replied, **“Again, no thank you.”**

**“Minghao-ah—”**

**“You don’t need to say my name like that.”**

Junhui chuckled. **“But you’re so cute. Your name deserves to be said like that.”**

Chan just watched the encounter like it had happened more times than he could count, which it had. Keeping his slightly amused face on, Minghao continued to pack away the plates. **“Sure.”**

 **“How many times do I have to ask you before you go out with me?”** Junhui asked in a pouty voice.

**“You can ask as many times as you want, but the answer’s always gonna be no.”**

As Junhui continued to hit on his friend, Seungkwan came into the apartment and put a box down on the counter. “Hey guys!” he greeted, wiping the sweat off his brow.

“Hey, Seungkwan!” Chan cheered back.

“Can you believe all the moving that’s going on? Jesus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much cardboard all in one place.”

The three of them laughed as Seungkwan opened the fridge, letting his head stay inside to soak up the cool air.

Junhui looked back at Minghao and said, **“You could be part of this moving party if you’d just go out with me.”**

Closing up his box, Minghao hugged it, walked around the counter past Junhui, and whispered, **“In your dreams.”**

Even after another rejection, Junhui smiled and watched the boy he always had on his mind walk out. **“Then, I’ll see you tonight!”**

After Minghao was gone, Junhui just chuckled into his chest, but Chan was less than amused. “Seriously hyung. Have you no shame?”

“It’s been years, Chan,” he laughed. “You know more than anyone that I don’t know what shame is anymore.”

Chan rolled his eyes. “You are _so_ lucky that I’m the only one out of our friends who knows Chinese.”

Smiling, Junhui came around the counter and put his arm over Chan, squeezing his shoulder. **“I’ve told you this many times, Channie. Minghao will come to his senses one day. I’ve invested too much time and effort for him not to. One day, one day Chan, he’ll realize that I am the one for him. Until then, I don’t mind facing all the rejection.”**

And it was a lot of rejection. For years, Junhui had felt this way towards Minghao, and unlike most people, he wasn’t very shy about telling the boy he loved that he loved him. None of them can remember when it first started, but whenever Junhui got the chance, he would ask Minghao out in some way or another. He would do it when they were studying at the library or getting something to eat or just hanging out with all their friends. The catch was he would only do it in Chinese, so the friends could all be in the room and have no idea what they were saying, except for Chan who could understand them. Otherwise, it was always just Junhui and Minghao repeating this scene whenever another confession was made: Junhui would ask him out and Minghao would say no. It became so normal that Minghao would rarely think anything of it, but Junhui was waiting for the day he would really consider.

Chan scoffed. **“You’re crazy.”**

Junhui opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Seungkwan shut the fridge and stood up straight. **“I think it’s kinda romantic.”**

Completely caught off guard, Junhui and Chan’s eyes grew to the size of their faces. They turned to just stare at Seungkwan before Junhui finally exclaimed, **“YOU SPEAK MANDARIN?!”**

Seungkwan chuckled and nodded. **“Yeah, I’m pretty fluent. So, you’re in love with Minghao? Damn, everyone here’s just—”**

But Junhui cut him off as Chan started bursting out into laughter. **“NO! NO! NO! PLEASE! PLEASE, DO NOT SAY ANYTHING ABOUT ANY OF THIS!”** he frantically screamed, panic just washing over him. He definitely didn’t want the rest of his friends finding out about this. The only reason he was able to be so confident with Minghao was the fact that no one knew about it.

Seungkwan seemed surprise and asked, **“What? Does no one know about this?”**

 **“NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT THIS!”** Junhui answered, trying not to pass out. **“AND I WOULD REALLY LIKE IT TO STAY THAT WAY! PLEASE!”**

But Chan was losing his shit. For some reason, it was incredibly funny not being the only one to know about this secret love affair. “OH, HYUNG! YOU’RE SO SCREWED!” he screamed in Korean.

“NO! NO I’M NOT, AS LONG AS SEUNGKWAN DOESN’T SAY ANYTHING!”

Seungkwan couldn’t help but chuckle. “Don’t worry I won’t say anything.”

Giving a sigh of relief, Junhui weakly smiled. “Good, good. Thank you.” Trying to put himself together, he went back around the counter. “I’m gonna go help out upstairs.”

“I’ll go with you,” Chan laughed and followed.

Before the two made it out the door, Seungkwan called out, **“While you’re there, be careful around Wonwoo and Seokmin! They speak Chinese, too!”**

 **“SON OF A BITCH!”** Junhui screamed as Chan exploded in more laughter. As they were walking out, Hansol looked at them weirdly as he entered holding a “Jihoon” box.

Seungkwan chuckled and muttered to himself. **“Crazy people. Everyone’s in love.”**

Hansol overheard him as he was walking by. “Woah!” he exclaimed as he put the box on the ground. “You speak Mandarin?!”

Surprised, Seungkwan looked up. “What? Oh, yeah I do,” he quickly replied.

“That’s so cool!” Hansol enthusiastically replied. “I’ve always wanted to learn, but never got the chance to take a class.”

Seungkwan awkwardly smiled. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to say. It was strange because Seungkwan thought he was fairly familiar with all of Jihoon’s friends who were helping with the move, but he didn’t recognize this person.

Seeing the boy’s confusion, Hansol laughed. “I’m Hansol by the way.”

Seungkwan grinned. “I’m Seungkwan.”

“OH!” Hansol leaned over the counter and said, “You’re Seungkwan! That makes sense now! Sorry, I come by the coffee shop all the time and I’ve heard Jihoon say so many great things about you, but somehow you were never working when I was there. Wonwoo talks about you a lot, too. You’re like a genius!” Hansol had no idea what had gotten into him. He was never this loud around people he didn't know, but for some reason Seungkwan brought it out of him.

Blown away by Hansol’s enthusiasm about him, Seungkwan started to blush. “Ummm, I wouldn’t say a genius…”

“No! Don’t be modest!” Hansol laughed. “Wonwoo told me you were in the same program as him when he first came to Seoul. You were the youngest person accepted. That’s freakin’ impressive.”

Seungkwan was having such a hard time finding his words. “Tha—thank you,” he awkwardly stammered.

Genuinely pleased to meet the boy he’d heard so much about, Hansol continued to compliment Seungkwan on his achievements and his bright personality. At the same time, from across the room leaning on the bedroom door frame, Jeonghan was smiling as he watched his friend. “Jisoo-ah, come look,” he whispered.

Coming up behind him, Jisoo looked. “What?”

Nodding his head towards the scene, Jeonghan flashed a huge smile. “I’ve never seen Seungkwan so blushy.”

Jisoo watched too and managed to hear parts of the conversation. “Oh my god. Is he... _not_ bragging about himself?”

“I’m as surprised as you are!” Jeonghan laughed.

“Wow, Seungkwan’s met his match.”

Jeonghan turned around and hugged his boyfriend. “Anyone who can shut Seungkwan up is definitely someone special.”

The two of them laughed and Jisoo kissed him on the head. “Let’s hope their story doesn’t get as complicated as the rest of ours.”

“You really think diva Boo out there’s not gonna make a scene of this?”

Jisoo chuckled and watched as Seungkwan nervously rubbed the back of his neck and only said a few words. “Something tells me he won’t.”

After a few more moments of observation, the happy couple decided to get back to work, postponing Seungkwan’s session of intense teasing for later.

“Yea—yeah, I used to go to that high school,” Seungkwan stammered.

“Gosh, you’re so lucky,” Hansol said. “You were only there for a year. The place is a zoo. The other day—”

But before Hansol could continue, Jihoon stuck his head through the front door. “Hey, Hansol!”

Quickly turning around, he answered, “Yeah!”

“Can you help move a few more things upstairs?”

A little disappointed that he had to stop talking to Seungkwan, Hansol nodded. “Yeah, sure. I’ll be right there.”

“Thanks!” With a smile, Jihoon was out of sight.

Hansol sighed and looked back to Seungkwan. “Sorry, I’ve been talking your ear off. Usually, I’m not this forward.”

“No, you’re fine,” Seungkwan reassured him. He was slightly relieved to hear that he wasn’t the only one out of his element.

“It was nice to finally meet you,” he said with a grin. Patting the counter, he started to backpedal out of the room.

Just as he turned, Seungkwan called out, “Wait!” Hansol looked back and saw Seungkwan coming around the counter to follow him out. “I’ll help! I—I was supposed to help Wonwoo move stuff down anyway.”

Unsure of what had come over him, Seungkwan softly smiled at Hansol, who then flashed him a giant grin. Immediately, Hansol threw his arm around his shoulder and laughed. “Ahh, Seungkwan. I can tell this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

Seungkwan weakly chuckled as the two entered Jihoon’s old apartment. He couldn’t tell if he was happy or upset by the word “friendship.”

As the two were walking in, Jihoon and Seungcheol were in the bedroom packing up some clothes. “Baby,” Seungcheol said as he was folding.

“Hmm?”

“I know we haven’t really talked about it,” he started to say, “but uhh…”

Jihoon paused his work and glanced over at his awkward looking boyfriend. “What is it?”

“Umm…” Seungcheol couldn’t figure out how to say this without it coming off a certain way. “I know we’re living together and everything and there’s only one room, but we haven’t really talked about…” Unable to finish his sentence, he just focused his stare on Jihoon’s top bunk.

Confused, Jihoon thought of the only thing that could mean. “The bed situation?”

Seungcheol weakly smiled. “Yeeaaahhh. I know we haven’t really talked about it…”

Seeing how apprehensive his boyfriend was being was oddly cute to Jihoon. He folded his arms and leaned against the bunk bed. “No, we haven’t.”

Seungcheol could feel his palms warming up. “Right. I don’t want to make any assumptions or anything, baby, so with the bed…”

“Or beds,” Jihoon teased.

At that, Seungcheol felt his chest sink. “Or beds…”

But that just made Jihoon laugh. He walked up to his boyfriend and hugged him around the waist. “You are so cute.” Leaning up, he kissed Seungcheol on his blushing cheeks. “We only need one bed, my dear.”

Finally loosening up, Seungcheol asked, “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

Seungcheol gave a huge sigh of relief and hugged Jihoon tighter. “Thank god!”

Laughing into Seungcheol’s chest, Jihoon was about to say some more when he heard Mingyu walk in from behind. “Alright you two. The whole point of this move is so you guys can do that in your own apartment from now on.”

Seungcheol and Jihoon chuckled as they released. “You’re one to talk,” Seungcheol teased, “You and Wonwoo can’t keep your hands off of each other.”

Normally, Mingyu would be embarrassed by a comment like this, but it was just too true. “Two years, hyung,” he responded. “Two years.”

Sealing and picking up Jihoon’s box, Seungcheol nodded and replied, “Fair enough.” He looked over at Jihoon as he walked out. “Baby, I’m gonna take these to our place.”

“Thanks.” Jihoon watched as his boyfriend left the room.

Mingyu noticed his former roommate’s stare and laughed. “He’s got a nice ass.”

Jihoon’s eyes grew wide and he snapped at his friend. “MINGYU!”

“What?!” he laughed as he put down one of Wonwoo’s boxes. “I was just saying what you were thinking.”

Jihoon didn’t even bother holding back his blush. Mingyu knew better than anyone the thoughts that were running through his mind. “It’ll be nice having our own apartment,” Jihoon admitted. “God knows what you and Wonwoo have done in this one.”

Laughing, Mingyu said, “Yeah, it was a good idea to let us keep this one.”

Jihoon just rolled his eyes. As he tried his best not to shudder at those images, Soonyoung walked through the door, looking pretty tired. “Well, it’s nice to see you two working so hard,” he mocked.

Mingyu smiled and sat on his single bed. “Need more help?”

“No, no,” Soonyoung said sarcastically, batting the air. “You guys just be happy with your boyfriends. Don’t even worry about single-old me. I’m perfectly fine. I’ll live it up with the other single guys. Yep, that’s no problem at all. My best friends ditch me for people they can make out with. That’s totally fine. At least I never have to hear Mingyu complain about me being his date ever again.”

Mingyu and Jihoon glanced at each other with the same knowing look, unphased by Soonyoung’s extreme sarcasm. “Thanks for doing this, Soonyoung,” Jihoon finally said.

Giving up his act, Soonyoung cracked a smile. “Really, it’s nothing guys. I’m really happy you two are happy.” All of a sudden his shoulders slumped and he sighed. “But I’m still kinda sad we won’t be living together anymore.”

Mingyu bit his lower lip and nodded. “Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s like the end of an era.”

Sensing the more somber atmosphere, Jihoon put his arm around Soonyoung. “I’m gonna miss it, too.”

Mingyu was right; it was the end of an era. For the past two years, this apartment was the epicenter of their friend group. Because the three of them lived here, they always offered to host gatherings and have everyone over. Soonyoung, Jihoon, and Mingyu had grown together in that apartment. They went through finals together, failed job interviews together, bad dates together. Everything that happened to any of them was retold in this apartment. And leaving that behind was hard to swallow.

“At least we’re all still in the same building,” Mingyu pointed out.

“Yeah,” Soonyoung agreed. “I’m probably still gonna barge in on you guys all the time.”

Jihoon smiled. “You’re right upstairs.”

Soonyoung smiled back. “I guess now you’re the pretty boy across the hall.”

“So is Mingyu,” Jihoon laughed.

“We’re all _somebody’s_ pretty boy across the hall,” Mingyu smiled.

Soonyoung nodded and walked out of Jihoon’s hold to pick up another one of his boxes. “As true as that is, only you guys got relationships out of that title.”

“Hey, you’re not even looking for anything right now, are you hyung?” Mingyu asked as Jihoon came over to sit next to him.

“Well, that’s ‘cause nothing’s gonna happen for me,” Soonyoung said as he headed for the door. He stopped to say, “I mean, look at you guys. Each of you ended up with the right person by, what…” he gestured to Mingyu, “...hiding in this city for two years only to have the love of your life move in upstairs, or…” he gestured to Jihoon, “...running away from the guy you fell for in the hall who never gave up on you. How can I expect to find someone when you guys had to go through hell and back to be as happy as you are now?”

Jihoon laughed and watched Soonyoung walk out. “It doesn’t have to be that complicated, hyung. You don’t have to be looking to find someone.”

Staring back over his shoulder, Soonyoung called back, “Okay, whatever you say!”

Mingyu laughed and leaned back against the wall. “Trust us! That someone could be right outside your door!”

Not paying attention to where he was going, Soonyoung stepped out of the apartment’s front door as he hollered, “For some reason I seriously doubt—!”

But his yell was interrupted with an _umph!_ As he wasn’t looking, Soonyoung had run right into someone in the hallway. In the process, he dropped his box and all his clothes inside spewed onto the floor. “I’m so sorry!” Soonyoung immediately exclaimed as he crouched down to gather his clothes.

The person he’d rammed into did the same. “No, no that was my fault! I wasn’t looking!”

Hearing the unfamiliar voice, Soonyoung looked up and watched as this person helped him out. For a moment, he couldn’t stop himself from staring. “Uhhhh…”

Seokmin didn’t look up as he picked up what was left on the ground. “I’m so sorry! I was too busy talking to Jeonghan, I wasn’t paying attention!”

Coming back to his senses, Soonyoung quickly said, “No, no! It’s fine!”

Once everything was off the floor, Seokmin finally looked up. The second he looked into Soonyoung’s eyes, he paused. Then he forced himself to look away. “Uhhhh…”

Soonyoung slowly stood up and Seokmin followed. Neither of them looked at each other. “Sorry, again!” Soonyoung exclaimed.

“Totally fine!” Seokmin felt his heart beating weirdly fast. He had no idea what was happening, but he realized it had something to do with this person in front of him. As they both stood there in silence, he felt the seconds dragging on and realized that he had to do something. He finally drew the courage to look at the boy again. “You must be Jihoon’s friend,” was all he could come up with.

Soonyoung nodded. “And Mingyu’s,” was all he could come up with.

“Right.”

“And you must be Seungcheol’s.”

“And Wonwoo’s.”

“Right.”

There was a slight pause before Seokmin decided to say the next most obvious thing. “I’m Seokmin.” He flashed a huge smile and held out his hand.

For some reason, that giant grin was enough to make Soonyoung blush, but he tried his hardest not to. “Soonyoung,” he said with his own smile. He reached out to meet Seokmin’s hand.

But what he felt instead was some sort of fabric. Noticing this weird texture, they both looked down at their hands and both of their eyes nearly popped out of their heads.

What Seokmin hadn’t noticed was he was holding one of Soonyoung’s boxers in his right hand. By the time he did, he immediately shoved them to Soonyoung, who immediately snatched them back. “OH MY GOD! I AM SO SORRY!” Soonyoung shrieked.

Flushing from the embarrassment, Seokmin shouted, “NO! NO! IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT!”

Soonyoung proceeded to throw all of his clothes back in the box and so did Seokmin, trying his best not to pay attention to what other articles he may have been holding. Before either one of them could say anything else, Seungkwan and Hansol were heading down the hallway. “What’s going on?” Seungkwan asked, confused.

For a split second, Soonyoung and Seokmin stared at each other in sheer panic and embarrassment. Without another thought, Soonyoung looked away and rushed past the other two to escape down the hall. “NOTHING!”

Hansol opened his mouth to ask something else, but Seokmin screamed, “NOTHING!” as he twisted around and ran back into Jeonghan’s old apartment.

Still confused, Seungkwan looked to Hansol. “What do you think that was about?”

But Hansol just shrugged. “I wouldn’t question what happens in these halls.”

For the next few hours, the antics continued as everyone helped move everything around. Chan continued to pester Junhui about how not-secret his little charade with Minghao would be if he wasn’t careful. At the same time, Junhui tried his best to avoid Seungkwan, who already knew too much. Soonyoung and Seokmin were also doing their fair share of avoiding, at least with each other. Both were way too embarrassed to see the other before the day was out. On the other hand, Seungkwan and Hansol were doing a lot of seeing each other. For the rest of the day, they took trips down to the moving van to get Seungcheol’s stuff and back up to get Jeonghan’s then upstairs to get Wonwoo’s and back downstairs to get Soonyoung’s. In the process, both had become fairly comfortable, Seungkwan learning to actually speak again and Hansol figuring out when to keep his mouth closed, problems that neither one of them thought they would ever have. And in the midst of all of this, the three happy couples continued to be themselves. When it was all over, Wonwoo closed the front door to his new home.

“That took forever,” he said through a yawn.

Mingyu watched from the kitchen as his boyfriend tossed his limp body onto the couch. “Hey, we moved five guys in less than 24 hours. That’s pretty impressive to me.”

Wonwoo laughed and sat up. But instead of looking back at Mingyu, he twisted his body to look at what was resting against the wall behind the couch. “It’s a good thing you didn’t move. I wouldn’t want to risk damaging any of your paintings.”

Mingyu walked over and sat next to Wonwoo, copying his position. “I haven’t touched those in a while,” he realized.

Turning to see the low look on Mingyu’s face, Wonwoo blurted out, “You should start painting again.”

Mingyu scoffed. “That was blunt.”

“No, I’m serious,” he said, taking Mingyu’s hand in his. “It’s just the two of us living here. Once we move out that bunk bed, there’d be plenty of space for you to set up a small studio in the bedroom.”

“Seriously?” he asked.

Wonwoo rapidly nodded. “Yes! Mingyu-ah, you need to start painting more!”

Hearing the love of his life say these things made Mingyu’s heart beat incredibly fast. He was overcome with emotion. The only thing he could do was grab Wonwoo’s face and kiss him.

“I love you, Wonwoo.”

Wonwoo laughed. “I love you, too.” Stroking the side of Mingyu’s face, he slowly stood up. “And when you get your studio up, I know exactly what you’ll paint first.”

Mingyu furrowed his eyebrows and watched as Wonwoo disappeared into their bedroom. “You have something in mind?”

After a few seconds, Wonwoo came back out holding that first painting Mingyu had ever made him, showing off the purple door and the number 71. “I just think it’s time for an update.”

A huge smile on his face, Mingyu stood up and walked over to take it from his boyfriend’s hands. Grinning down, he shook his head, “I guess 71 wasn’t meant to be.”

Wonwoo smiled. “No,” he said, taking the painting away and sliding his body into Mingyu’s arms, “but 17 is even better.”

And as those two fell into another kiss, across the hall, Seungcheol and Jeonghan were sitting on the couch in the apartment they used to share.

“Wah!” Jeonghan exclaimed, looking around. “This place looks great!”

Seungcheol raised an eyebrow at his friend. “It’s filled with boxes.”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan agreed. “But in the little time I’ve lived here, this is the first time it’s felt whole.”

Seungcheol scoffed and patted his friend on the knee. “It’s gonna be whole living with Jisoo, I promise you that.”

“I know,” Jeonghan sighed, leaning his head into the sofa pillow. “I’m gonna miss this couch.”

Rubbing the cushion, Seungcheol laughed. “You and Jisoo did a good job breaking it in.”

Chuckling, Jeonghan glanced over at him. “You and Jihoon better make sure it stays broken in.”

“You’re so gross. Why’s everyone so gross these days?”

“Hey! You and Jihoon are the baby couple,” Jeonghan pointed out. “Mingyu and Wonwoo over there are doing all sorts of crazy things.”

“Don’t remind me,” Seungcheol groaned.

Jeonghan laughed. “I won’t have to. But you may want to get yourself some noise cancelling headphones.”

“Why?”

Jeonghan raised an eyebrow at him. “How many times do I have to tell you—”

Realizing where this was going, Seungcheol nodded. “Right,” he grinned, glancing over at the closed front door. “You can hear really well through these doors.”

Jeonghan smiled and stared at the back of his friend’s head. He firmly gripped Seungcheol’s shoulder. “I’m really gonna miss living with you.”

Seungcheol turned back around and softly smiled. “Me too.” Not much else needed to be said.

Even though the two had technically stopped living together for some time now, it was still hard to walk away from everything that used to be. Jeonghan had grown accustomed to Seungcheol’s insistence on talking about his day before they both went to bed. Seungcheol was used to buying extra shampoo every time he went to the store. Both of them were going to miss the other bringing in the mail every afternoon. But at the same time, they knew that what they were walking into was even better.

“You be good to that boy, okay?” Jeonghan said, pointing firmly at Seungcheol’s face.

“As long as you be good to Jisoo.”

As the two of them laughed, Jihoon and Jisoo could hear their entire conversation from out in the hall. “The building really has to look into thicker doors or something. You can literally hear everything they’re saying,” Jisoo commented.

Jihoon smiled and leaned against the wall. “Ehh, I don’t really mind anymore.”

Chuckling, Jisoo reached for the doorknob. But before he turned it, he looked to Jihoon and said, “I never got a chance to properly thank you, Jihoon. For everything. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know if Jeonghan and I would’ve ended up where we are now.”

Jihoon nodded. “Seriously, Jisoo, I wish nothing but the best for you and Jeonghan. You two have made a huge difference in my life, and Seungcheol’s.”

“All of us should go out soon.”

“Definitely.”

Grinning, Jisoo finally opened the front door and Jihoon stepped inside. “Jeonghan, ready to go?”

Jeonghan stood up and wiped down his pants. “Yeah!”

He and Seungcheol joined the other two at the door. “Are you sure you guys don’t need anymore help with anything?” Jeonghan asked, again.

Jihoon chuckled. “We’ve got it all from here. Thanks guys.”

The two of them nodded. “You guys get settled in,” Jisoo said. “We’ll probably see you tomorrow.”

“Probably,” Seungcheol laughed.

With a smile, Jeonghan stepped out into the hall and took Jisoo by the hand. “Good night, guys!”

“Good night!” Jihoon and Seungcheol both said.

“Good night!” Jisoo finished as Seungcheol closed the door behind them.

Letting out a deep sigh, Jeonghan leaned his head into his boyfriend’s shoulder. “They might be finished, but now we have to get the moving van to your place.”

“ _Our_ place,” Jisoo corrected.

Jeonghan glanced up and pecked him on the cheek. “Our place.”

As those two headed for the elevator, Jihoon and Seungcheol headed into their bedroom. Seeing the two twin beds made Jihoon chuckle. “So, do you still want to talk about the bed situation?” he teased, sitting down on the one that used to be assigned to Seungcheol.

But this time Seungcheol wasn’t all blushy. Instead he just smiled and lunged towards Jihoon. “Come here!”

As he was being sucked into Seungcheol’s arms, Jihoon couldn’t stop laughing. After a few seconds of rolling around, Jihoon managed to cry out, “So I guess we’re using this one.”

Seungcheol laughed and laid on his side, fondly gazing into Jihoon’s eyes. He had to brush some of that pink hair out of his face. “If the two of us can fit.”

“Mmm.” Jihoon nuzzled himself deeper into Seungcheol’s chest. “I think we fit just fine.”

Seungcheol kissed the top of Jihoon’s head and felt his insides get all warm. Having Jihoon so close just felt so amazing, and the idea of always having him that close...made him feel like he was falling all over again.

“I can’t believe we live together,” Seungcheol said.

Jihoon looked up at his boyfriend. “You know what this means right?”

Seungcheol smiled and pressed his forehead to Jihoon’s. “What does this mean?”

Jihoon’s entire body was tingling. He was smiling from ear to ear and he knew that that grin wasn’t coming off anytime soon. “It means neither of us can forget our keys anymore.”

Seungcheol chuckled and stared down at Jihoon’s lips. “With you,” he whispered just as he leaned in for a kiss, “I could never forget.”


	25. What Movie?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> again, BOLD means they're speaking Chinese

again, THIS font means they're speaking in Chinese

 

“What movie should we watch?” Seungcheol asked as he scrolled through Netflix on his laptop.

Jihoon smiled over his shoulder. He stood by the microwave, waiting for the popcorn to finish popping. “What looks good?”

“I have no idea. It’s like literally every good movie title’s just flown out of my head,” he groaned.

“You’re so weird,” Jihoon laughed.

Seungcheol chuckled, stood up, and made his way to Jihoon in the kitchen. Without him noticing, he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. Kissing the top of Jihoon’s head, Seungcheol said into his pink hair, “And you are adorable.”

That signature rosy shade flushed over Jihoon’s cheeks. “You really like hugging me from behind, don’t you?” Jihoon asked, gently stroking Seungcheol’s muscular arm.

“‘Cause you fit so well in my arms.”

The microwaved went off Jihoon reached in for the popcorn and placed the bag on the counter. “I fit the other way too,” he teased.

“Yeah,” Seungcheol admitted, spinning Jihoon around so their foreheads were touching. “But I know you get all flustered when I see you blush.”

And as if on cue, Jihoon got even redder. Refusing to look at Seungcheol, he scoffed. “I don’t know why that still happens.”

Seungcheol smiled and rolled his eyes as he pulled Jihoon’s head into his chest. “It’s ‘cause you’ll never get used to how devilishly charming I am.”

“No, no,” Jihoon laughed. “That’s not it.”

But it kind of was. It had been a few weeks since the move and the two of them were really finding their flow living together. That being said, Seungcheol never failed to throw off his boyfriend every so often. The same was the other way around. Jihoon’s favorite pastime was getting Seungcheol to blush as easily as he did. After a few different tries, Jihoon found that the best way was to walk in on him in the shower.

“It’s okay,” Seungcheol said as he leaned down to leave a kiss on Jihoon’s cheek. “Pink is a good color on you.”

“Just pick a movie,” Jihoon said as he turned back to dump the popcorn on a bowl.

“What movie?”

“And we’re back to where we started.”

Just as Seungcheol laughed, there was a knock at the door. Furrowing his eyebrows, Seungcheol went to get it. “You expecting anyone, baby?”

“No,” he replied. “It might be Soonyoung though. He told me he needed to ask you about something.”

“What would he need to ask me about?” Seungcheol questioned. But he opened the door before Jihoon could answer.

“Seokmin? Seungkwan?”

“HEY HYUNG!” Seungkwan cheered as he entered the apartment.

“Heyyyy guys,” Seungcheol said as he watched them come in.

Seokmin happily followed. “WE HEARD YOU WERE WATCHING A MOVIE!”

“Where’d you hear that?” Seungcheol asked.

“Vernon told us.” Seungkwan said as he put the snacks he brought on the counter. “Hey Jihoon!”

Jihoon gave an amused smile. “Hey Seungkwan.”

“Vernon?” Seungcheol asked.

“Hansol,” Jihoon answered. “That’s his middle name.”

“Uh huh.” Seungcheol came around the corner and gave his friend a funny look. “How do you know that?”

Seungkwan meekly grinned as he ruffled through his snacks. “He told me. I thought it suited him better.”

“Uh huh.” Seungcheol looked over at Seokmin on the couch, who just raised his eyebrows a few times.

Noticing his boyfriend’s behavior, Jihoon elbowed him in the ribs, making him hunch over and grab his stomach. “So you guys decided to join us?”

“I hope you don’t mind!” Seokmin exclaimed.

“No, no,” Seungcheol answered sarcastically. “It’s totally fine. It’s not like the two of us wanted to be alone or anything.”

Seungkwan laughed. “Good!”

Jihoon looked over at Seungcheol, whose head was hanging a little lower. Pinching his cheek, Jihoon grinned. “We have plenty of time to be alone. At least this way we can pick a freakin’ movie.”

Seungcheol weakly nodded. “What do you guys want to watch?” he asked the group.

“I don’t know,” Seokmin replied as Seungkwan sat down next to him. “What looks good?”

Jihoon and Seungcheol both groaned, but before either of them could complain, there was another knock at the door.

“I’LL GET IT!” Seungkwan exclaimed, jumping to his feet.

Seungcheol chuckled and leaned down to whisper to Jihoon, “Does Hansol have special powers or something?”

Jihoon gave him a sly grin and winked. “You mean Vernon?”

With an excited smile, Seungkwan skidded to a stop and threw the front door open. His expression quickly vanished. “Oh. Hey you two.”

“Well, good to see you too, Seungkwannie,” Jeonghan teased as he walked in. Jisoo followed holding a case of sodas.

“You guys started the party without us?” Jisoo joked, putting the drinks on the counter.

Seungcheol watched as his friends crowded the apartment. “Did everyone hear about this party except for us?”

“Thanks for having us,” Jeonghan smiled.

Jihoon batted his hand in the air. “Yeah, yeah. Any time.”

“No!” Seungcheol hollered. “Don’t tell them that! They’ll literally be here _any_ time!”

Jisoo laughed and opened a bag of chips. “We’re lucky he found you, Jihoon. Seungcheol’s never been really good at hosting.”

Jihoon chuckled but Seungcheol just shook his head. “No, no. It’s not that I’m not good, it’s that I don’t _want to_!” He turned back to his boyfriend and sighed. Slightly pouting, he explained, “Hosting is stressful.”

Laughing, Jihoon wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s waist. “It’s okay. I’m good at it.”

For a moment, the two of them just smiled at each other, resting in their own embrace. Jisoo watched with a pleased grin before taking his snacks over to the couch. “So what’re we watching?”

Seokmin was still scrolling through on Seungcheol’s laptop. “Haven’t decided. What do you guys want to watch?”

“I don’t know,” Jisoo said. “What looks good?”

“I can’t believe this,” Seungcheol muttered.

Still in his arms, Jihoon said, “Ten bucks says we never pick a movie.”

Seungcheol rubbed his face on top of Jihoon’s head when there was another knock at the door. Seungkwan jumped up again, but this time Jihoon went to get it. “I wonder who that could be,” he said sarcastically.

“Whoever it is the better know what they want to watch,” Seungcheol scoffed and followed behind.

Jihoon opened the door and smiled. “Well, it’s our lovely neighbors!” he said jokingly.

Mingyu flashed him a cheeky grin. “Thanks for the invite,” he said sarcastically. “We had to hear about this from Seungkwan.”

“We did too,” Seungcheol commented.

Wonwoo walked in and put their snacks with the others. “Thanks for having us, hyung. I know how you don’t like—”

“Yeah, yeah, go enjoy yourself,” Seungcheol interjected, leading him towards the others.

He laughed at his friend and joined the rest of the people. “Hey guys!”

“Hey!”

Sitting on the arm of the couch, he leaned in and asked, “What’re we watching?”

Mingyu watched his boyfriend as he stood by the door with Jihoon. “He’s so hot,” he mumbled.

Jihoon rolled his eyes. “Mingyu-ah.”

“Yeah,” he said, turning to face him.

“You’re thinking out loud again.”

Blushing, Mingyu rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry. It’s just that—”

“He’s so hot,” Jihoon teased. At the same time, he couldn’t help but gaze at his own boyfriend. “I get it.”

Mingyu laughed and ruffled Jihoon’s hair before going to join the others on the already cramped couch. Just as Jihoon was shutting the door, someone stuck their foot in and stopped it.

“Don’t forget about us!” Minghao exclaimed as he pushed the door back open.

“How could I?” Jihoon joked.

Hansol smiled as the three roommates walked in. “I see that we’re fashionably late.”

“What? Did you set a time for this gathering I didn’t know about?” Jihoon asked, crossing his arms and raising his eyebrows. “Vernon?”

Smiling big, Hansol nervously laughed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Just then, Seungkwan called from across the room, “VERNON!”

Immediately, Hansol’s hand shot up to wave as he headed towards him. “AY!”

Minghao laughed as Jihoon looked to him. “Have you been doing what I asked?”

He nodded. “I’ve been keeping a close eye.”

“And?”

Minghao shrugged. “Can’t say for sure. They’re getting pretty close, but I don’t know if it’s like that. They may actually be just friends.”

“Thanks, Minghao,” Jihoon chuckled as he left to go sit. He turned and faced the last person at the door. He furrowed his eyebrows. “Soonyoung, you okay?”

But Soonyoung didn’t answer. He had this frozen look on his face, like a deer in headlights. “Soonyoung?” Jihoon said again.

All of a sudden, he grabbed Jihoon by the wrist and said, “I need to talk to you,” as he pulled him into the hall and shut the door.

Once they were out of the apartment, Soonyoung kept dragging his friend towards the end of the hallway. “Woah. Where are we going?” Jihoon frantically asked.

“I know better,” Soonyoung explained. “I don’t want the others hearing this.” He stopped once they were out of hearing range.

“What is it?” Jihoon questioned.

“When you first met Seungcheol,” he started, rubbing his palms together, “what did it feel like?”

Totally thrown for a loop, Jihoon just squinted at him. “What?”

“Just!” he uttered, shaking his hands by his head. Jihoon jolted as his friend tried to calm down. He took a deep breath. “Just...answer the question.”

“Uhhh.” Jihoon quickly tried to gather his thoughts. A warm feeling started to flood him as he recalled that turning point again. “It was...nerve-wracking. I remember hearing his voice and...just staring at him. I couldn’t form words.” He stopped to chuckle. “I probably looked like a total idiot.”

Soonyoung listened intensely as Jihoon paused. “But…,” Soonyoung started, “you said that you had this ‘feeling,’ like you could tell there was something there.”

“Well, I was attracted to the guy, yeah sure,” Jihoon explained. “He threw me off guard and we kinda clicked.”

He nodded and sucked in his lips. “Right. You guys clicked.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon kept going. He smiled at the thought. “It just felt right. Like, it was confusing, but it all makes sense now. I was so nervous and really antsy and just out of my element. It felt like I was falling, or something. But it definitely felt right.”

Soonyoung nodded. “Right.”

Snapping back to the moment, Jihoon asked, “What’s this even about?”

“Nothing,” Soonyoung sighed.

But Jihoon knew better. “Is this about Seokmin and what happened when we were all moving?”

Soonyoung leaned against the wall and refused to look at his former roommate. “Maybe.”

Unable to resist, Jihoon smiled. “Well, you’ve seen him since then. Why’re you being all weird?”

“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” he admitted.

Jihoon was about to continue his questioning, but a familiar voice interrupted their conversation.

“What’re you guys doing out here?” Junhui asked as he and Chan approached them.

Jihoon chuckled, “Soonyoung has problems.”

“That you’re terrible at helping me with.”

Chan smiled and hugged his giant tub of candy. “What kind of problems?”

“Ones that you already know about,” Soonyoung groaned, pulling his hair out of his face.

Junhui furrowed his eyebrows. “Is this still about Seokmin?”

“Our Soonyoung doesn’t know how he feels about him,” Jihoon informed them.

Soonyoung groaned again and sank to the floor. “I have no idea what’s happening to me.”

“You probably just have a crush on him,” Chan suggested.

“Oh yeah!” Soonyoung exclaimed sarcastically. “A crush! Why didn’t I think of that?! That makes perfect sense! Thanks, Chan! That really helps me be in the same room as him!”

The other three eyed each other, all used to Soonyoung in his state of frustration but alien to him this flustered by another’s presence.

Jihoon squatted down to be at his eye level. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Says you!” he shouted. “You freakin ran away from home when you were in love with Seungcheol!”

Raising an eyebrow at him, Jihoon suggestively said, “So you’re in love now?”

Soonyoung tried to kick him away. “OH, BE QUIET!”

Junhui laughed and added, “Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?”

But Chan just scoffed. **“You know how well that goes,”** he said in Chinese.

Junhui quickly gave him the death glare. “Shut up.”

Soonyoung looked up at both of them. “What did you say?”

“Nothing important,” Junhui insisted. “Soonyoung, for now, you should just try to be in the same place as Seokmin. As hard as it is, just do that. You’ll learn to enjoy it.” He nodded at them before saying, “Don’t be out here too long. We’ll tell them to hold the movie.”

Jihoon and Soonyoung nodded before Junhui and Chan made their way to the apartment. Chan slyly smiled and patted his friend on the back. **“The master sharing his knowledge with the new student. I like that. All your experience of quietly taking rejection has finally come in handy.”**

Again, Junhui glared just as he was about to open the door. “Shut up.”

Watching their friends disappear behind the door, Jihoon turned back to Soonyoung who was actually looking pretty glum. “Whatever you’re feeling for Seokmin, it’ll fade if you want it to. Otherwise, just get to know him. You’ll learn if what you’re feeling is what you want to feel.”

He raised his eyebrow questionably. “Was that what happened with Seungcheol?”

“Trust me when I say you don’t want to go through what I did with Seungcheol,” Jihoon said with a smile. He stood up and extended his arm. “It doesn’t have to be that hard.”

Taking it, Soonyoung stood up. “I hope you’re right.”

As they walked back, Jihoon said, “Just try not to be too stupid.”

“Yeah, I really don’t miss living with you.” But even so, he laughed.

They walked back inside to find everyone crammed in the living room. Someone had moved the coffee table so there was enough room for everyone to spread out on the couch or the floor. By the looks of it, Wonwoo and Mingyu were making themselves comfortable on the ground while Jeonghan and Jisoo took a corner of the couch. Thankfully both couples were keeping the PDA to a minimum. Hansol and Seungkwan were enthusiastically helping Seokmin search on the laptop while Junhui, Chan, Minghao, and Seungcheol were in the kitchen.

Jihoon looked over and could tell that Soonyoung was still nervous, so he gave him a friendly shove towards the crowd. “Just be yourself, loser.”

Soonyoung rapidly nodded. “Right.” Swallowing hard, he put on a huge smile and spread his arms wide. All of a sudden he screamed, “THE PARTY HAS ARRIVED!”

Everyone turned. Surprised at first, they all immediately broke out into a round of applause, accompanied with hoots and hollers. Seokmin, though, had a softer smile and waited until he made eye contact with Soonyoung to flash his beautiful teeth.

Jihoon rolled his eyes and patted him on the back. “Good work.”

Satisfied, Soonyoung went to the others while Jihoon joined his boyfriend. “Did they pick anything yet?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Seungcheol groaned.

Chan laughed and stuffed some popcorn in his face. Jihoon noticed that more bags were popped. “What were you guys gonna watch?”

“We never got that far before Seungkwan and Seokmin showed up,” Jihoon explained.

Minghao smiled and grabbed a soda. “They better pick soon. I’m getting tired,” he said as he headed for a seat next to Wonwoo on the floor. Since learning that some of their new friends spoke Chinese, Minghao made sure to stay near them so Junhui couldn’t pull any of his “more-than-friends” crap. As entertaining as it was, Minghao appreciated some nights without it.

Annoyed at how careful he had to be now and also uneasy because of the information Seungkwan knew, Junhui pushed Chan to sit between him and Minghao. As they sat down, Junhui said, “So. Mingyu.”

“Yeah?” Mingyu answered, his arm tightly around his boyfriend.

“I heard you’re back to painting,” he eagerly said.

Grinning, Mingyu nodded. “Yeah.” He turned to look at the beaming Wonwoo. “Best decision I ever made.”

Wonwoo scoffed. “You mean _I_ made.” He faced the others. “Everyone knows he never would’ve if it wasn’t for me.”

The others laughed as Mingyu continued to smile at Wonwoo. “Whatever,” he said as he softly kissed the boy’s cheek.

“Please,” Chan said, leaning over to put his hand on Mingyu’s knee. “None of that during the movie.”

In the kitchen, Seungcheol watched the scene play out, paying close attention to Junhui. Leaning into his boyfriend a little, he quietly asked, “Hey, is there anything between Junhui and Minghao?”

“What?” Jihoon uttered, totally foreign to any of this. “No, there’s nothing going on there. Why? Does it seem like there is?”

Seungcheol squinted. “I don’t know, but I swear I just heard Junhui hit on Minghao.”

“What?!” Jihoon just shook his head and laughed. “Umm, baby, how is that possible?”

“I swear!” Seungcheol laughed. “It was weird to me too!”

“Well, what’d you hear?”

Seungcheol scratched his head and turned around, leaning against the island. “He said it in Mandarin so—”

“Ohhh,” Jihoon chuckled, examining his boyfriend and crossing his arms. “So you speak Mandarin all of a sudden,” he teased.

“Seungkwan taught me now and then. I’m not fluent like some of the other guys, but I know some stuff,” he explained.

“Ooookkkkkaaaaayyyyyyy,” Jihoon said, curiously.

Seungcheol smiled and threw his hands up. “Look! It sounded like he was telling Minghao that he was really cute.”

“Minghao is really cute.”

Seungcheol flashed him a look before lunging forward for a hug. “That’s not the point.”

Jihoon laughed in his chest before saying, “I think you heard wrong, dear.”

“Okay, okay,” he submitted. “You know them better than I do.”

Wiggling his way out of Seungcheol’s arms, Jihoon redirected his attention to the happy crowd in their living room. Seungcheol did the same. “Wasn’t exactly my idea for our movie night,” he admitted.

Jihoon sighed and held him tighter. “They’re all having fun.”

“So am I, don’t get me wrong,” Seungcheol said. “It’s just that I wanted some alone time.”

“Aww baby. Like I said, we’ll have plenty of time alone.”

Seungcheol still pouted as he rested his chin on the boy’s head. He thought for a second before saying, “I don’t think these guys are ever gonna choose a movie.”

Jihoon laughed. “Probably not.”

Seungcheol extended his arms and pushed Jihoon away to look him in the eyes. “Do you wanna go see one?”

“What? And leave everyone here? In our own apartment?” Jihoon scoffed, looking at Seungcheol like he was crazy.

“They’re not gonna notice!” he whispered.

Jihoon looked over again. Everyone was well distracted. Jisoo, Jeonghan, and Chan had taken over the laptop and Soonyoung was facing his fear. Seokmin didn’t look fazed by their conversation, but he was dying on the inside. All he could do was keep smiling. Mingyu, Wonwoo, Minghao, and Junhui were talking about who knows what. That left Seungkwan and Hansol to themselves right behind the couch, chatting away about something that both found interesting. “Minghao was right,” Jihoon thought as he watched those two. “Can’t tell if he’s interested.”

He turned back to Seungcheol and scrunched his nose. “You sure?”

Seungcheol smiled and dove in for a kiss. Pecking him lightly, he pulled away and whispered, “Let’s go!”

Quietly the two of them krept to their shoes. Slipping them on, they carefully tiptoed towards the door before silently slipping out.

As the door shut behind them, Jeonghan scoffed and looked at Jisoo and Chan. “It’s like they think we can’t see them.”

“Ehh, let them think they’re sneaky,” Jisoo said. “It’s romantic.”

Jeonghan grinned and kissed his boyfriend behind the ear. “You’re romantic.”

Jisoo blushed as Chan chuckled and turned to the door. “Are all the couples gonna be like this? Should I just go too?” he joked.

Jeonghan and Jisoo laughed as Jihoon and Seungcheol continued to believe that they had gotten out unnoticed. Seungcheol pulled out his key and locked the door. Throwing his arm over his boyfriend, they both headed down the hall. “And we’re finally alone.”

Jihoon smiled and rubbed his hair on the boy’s neck. “I love you,” he blurted out.

“I love you too,” Seungcheol replied, warmth just oozing through his voice. It would be his greatest mission to prove to Jihoon just how true that statement was. Words couldn’t describe how much Seungcheol felt for this boy, but in a moment like this, it was like he didn’t need to say anymore.

Jihoon looked up and admired the boy he was lucky enough to call his. “So, a movie?”

“Movie sounds good.”

Stroking his arm, Jihoon leaned into his boyfriend as they turned the corner. He felt his heart jump, thinking about what Soonyoung had asked him earlier. Those feelings he had that first day, they were still with him. Then, Jihoon slumped and sighed when he thought of something else.

“What movie?”


	26. I'm Okay

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOLD means they're speaking Chinese :)

“What do you mean you’re not home?!” Seungcheol screamed into his phone receiver as he got out of the cab.

 _“I had to go somewhere,”_ Wonwoo replied from the other end. _“Sorry, Seungcheol, but I didn’t know you needed Jihoon’s gift this early.”_

Seungcheol groaned as he punched in the building entrance code. As the main door opened, he headed inside towards the elevator. “What’s the point of you hiding his present if you’re not here when I need you?” he complained, waiting with an annoyed look on his face.

 _“You make me feel so special, hyung,”_ Wonwoo said, sarcastically.

Stroking his hair back as he waited for the elevator, Seungcheol couldn’t help but chuckle and loosened up a bit. “I know, yeah. Sorry, I’m just excited. I called Jihoon and he didn’t pick up. I texted him, too. Do you think he forgot?”

_“It’s your 100 day anniversary. Trust me, I don’t think he forgot.”_

With a _ding_ , the doors opened and he stepped inside. “You’re right.”

_“Of course I am. Look, just knock on the door when you get there. Maybe Mingyu’s home.”_

Seungcheol closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting a smile rest on his face as he moved upwards. “Thanks man.”

On the other end, Wonwoo chuckled, _“See you soon.”_

“Bye.” Without moving anything but his hand, Seungcheol hung up the phone and just stood there as he passed floor after floor. It was amazing how still he could be while filled with so much anticipation. Seungcheol was way too excited to celebrate his and Jihoon’s first anniversary. Something very special. As he went up, Seungcheol just reminded himself of everything Jihoon was to him. To Seungcheol, Jihoon was the best roommate he’d ever had, always keeping him warm in their bed. To Seungcheol, he was the loyal friend who was always there for others. To Seungcheol, he was the classmate he regretted never having, because he would’ve looked so adorable falling asleep during lectures. To Seungcheol, he was the guy who always bought the same coffee from Seungkwan’s shop every single morning. Seungcheol knew him in different forms, but at the end of it all he was still the same Jihoon. Someone very special.

When the doors finally opened on the ninth floor, Seungcheol couldn’t shake the smile off his face as he stepped out. “Please be there,” he muttered to himself. After rushing past several doors and making all the necessary turns, he made it to Wonwoo and Mingyu’s place, apartment 917B. “Please be there,” he repeated under his breath before he started banging on the door. “MINGYU!” he cried. “MINGYU! YOU HOME?!”

There was no reply.

“Damn it!”

Slightly annoyed and disappointed, Seungcheol sighed and slammed his back against the wall, sliding down to rest on the floor. If it were any other day, he might’ve been a little more frustrated, but he was still caught up in his Jihoon thoughts. Instead, he just closed his eyes and imagined the boy with the pink hair sitting next to him, as if it were their first encounter all over again. Seungcheol felt this fuzzy feeling in his chest until his moment of cheerful silence was interrupted. “You call?”

Seungcheol’s head shot up as he sprang to his feet. “Mingyu! Why didn’t you answer the door?!”

Stretching out his arms as he yawned, Mingyu apologized, “Sorry, hyung. I was taking a nap.”

Seungcheol rolled his eyes. “It’s fine,” he said as he made his way past Mingyu. “I just need to get Jihoon’s—” But then he paused.

For a second, Seungcheol just stood in the middle of the room and stared at what was in front of him. Finally, he asked, “Mingyu, what’s that?”

Mingyu smiled and crossed his arms. “It’s for you.”

“Well, I can see _that_.” In front of Seungcheol was one of Mingyu’s canvases on an easel. Done in cursive and black paint, it read, “To Seungcheol.” There was an arrow pointing down. Taped underneath was an envelope. “What is this?”

“Just open it,” Mingyu insisted, pushing the hesitant boy forward.

Seungcheol obliged and carefully took down the envelope to find what was inside. Quickly opening it, he pulled out the letter. “What the hell?” As he unfolded it, Seungcheol smiled like an idiot, half from shock and half from excitement.

 _“Hi dear!”_ it read. Seungcheol could just hear Jihoon’s voice. _“Happy 100 day anniversary! I know we haven’t really been talking about it lately, but I assumed you were planning something. Hate to break it to you, but I was planning too. I thought it’d be fun to have you run around a little. If you have any questions, just ask Mingyu…”_

Seungcheol immediately looked up. “What the hell is this?!” he laughed, holding up the letter.

“Jihoon set up a scavenger hunt,” Mingyu explained with a grin. “He put a bunch of hints in a ton of different locations and you have to figure out where each one leads.”

“Oh my god,” Seungcheol mumbled, unable to contain his blush. “I can’t believe him.”

“Read the hint!” Mingyu insisted.

Nodding, Seungcheol finished reading.

_“Hint #1: Seungcheol, you’re really corny and your friend who works here knows it all too well. Hope to see you soon. Love, Jihoon.”_

“Oh my god,” Seungcheol said again, flushing a shade as deep as his boyfriend’s hair.

Mingyu grinned and crouched down to look him in the eye. “You know where you’re going?”

Seungcheol chuckled. “I think so.”

— — —

“Vernon, shouldn’t you be at the park or something?” Seungkwan asked from behind the register at Akkinda.

Hansol laughed and proceeded to join his friend on the other side. “He won’t be there for a few more hints. According to Mingyu, he just left. I’ve got time.”

“Can you believe Jihoon did all of this?” Seungkwan sighed. “He’s becoming just as cheesy as his boyfriend.”

“I think it’s kinda sweet,” Hansol commented.

“Don’t get me wrong, it is,” Seungkwan explained. “But don’t you think it’s a little cliche?”

Hansol smirked and leaned on the counter. “What? So you’re saying you wouldn’t want someone to do this for you?”

Seungkwan resented how squirmy Hansol’s face could get him sometimes. Ignoring that queasy feeling, he fiddled with the register. “I don’t know. It depends.”

“Okay,” Hansol said with a nod. “Okay, then what if I was your boyfriend.” Seungkwan tensed up as the other boy easily spoke. “You wouldn’t want me to do this for you?”

Seungkwan scoffed. “You’re incapable of something like this.” Insulting him was the only way Seungkwan knew how to escape his spells.

But sometimes it wasn’t enough. “Oh, trust me,” he laughed. “I’m _very_ capable of going to great lengths for someone I’m crazy about.”

“But who on earth would be crazy about _you_?” Seungkwan teased.

“Plenty of people!” Hansol argued, feeling challenged.

Enjoying himself, Seungkwan pushed. “Yeah, I’d like to see that,” he sarcastically replied.

“Hey, hey, with the person’s permission…,” Hansol started to say. As he was talking, he slowly made his way over to stand behind Seungkwan. Gently placing his hands on the boy’s hips, he pressed his chest up against his back and rested his chin on the other’s shoulder. Softly, Hansol whispered in his ear, “...I can make them crazy.”

Seungkwan was completely frozen. Evidently, he didn’t want to move. Thank god Hansol couldn’t see how wide his eyes were. But just as Seungkwan was starting to believe the boy’s claim, the store door flew open.

“SEUNGKWAN!” Seungcheol screamed as he frantically rushed inside.

Immediately, Seungkwan stepped away from Hansol and gave off a small squeal. For some reason, Hansol’s first instinct was to duck and hide. “HYUNG!” he yelled back.

Fortunately for them, Seungcheol was too preoccupied to notice what was going on. “YOU KNOW HOW CORNY I AM!” he cried.

Coming back to his senses, Seungkwan smiled and nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Trying to catch his breath, he managed to ask, “Do you have the next one?”

Seungkwan reached into his pocket and pulled out another envelope. “You’re a really lucky guy, hyung.”

Beaming, Seungcheol grinned as he eagerly tore this one open.

_“Good job dear! I knew I didn’t have to worry about you going to the wrong place ;) Hint #2: I feel like our love story’s even better than the ones you’ll find here (specifically this section). Love, Jihoon.”_

“Love story,” Seungcheol muttered. After a second, he got it.

His face just glowing with excitement, he leaned over the counter and hugged Seungkwan. “Thanks buddy.”

Seungkwan laughed. “No problem.”

With one last pat on the back, Seungcheol released and ran back out the door. After he was gone, Hansol sighed and stood up. “It must be nice to be that happy.”

Fondly staring at the door that swung shut, Seungkwan replied, “He deserves it.”

— — —

Jeonghan locked his phone after reading Seungkwan’s message. “He’s on his way.”

“Cool,” Jisoo replied as he skimmed the shelves. Squinting at some of their bindings, he laughed. “These titles are terrible. No wonder no one comes to this section.”

Jeonghan chuckled and walked over to see which ones he was reading. “ _The Shore Will Feed Our Love. To Destiny and Beyond. A Heart Needs a Soul._ Wow, okay, those are pretty bad.”

Jisoo reached up and pulled one down from the top shelf. “This one’s my favorite.”

“ _Recipe for Temptation_ ,” he read before flipping to the back. The cover had a man wearing only an apron. “‘When the chef is just too delicious to resist, what do you do?’”

“Prepare to be served,” Jisoo said with a playfully smug look.

Jeonghan burst out laughing as a shiver ran down his spine. He shoved the book back into Jisoo’s hands. “Can you burn that or something? I’ve never been so uncomfortable.”

Jisoo smiled and put it back. He subsequently hugged his boyfriend from behind. “Am I too delicious?” he asked sarcastically.

Unable to contain his giddiness, Jeonghan tried to squirm out of his arms. “Eww, never say that again!”

Jisoo tried to stay in character, but the words were just too gross rolling off his tongue. “You’re cute, love.”

Jeonghan settled and looked over his shoulder. Leaving a peck on his boyfriend’s lips, he smiled. “So are you. Now let go before Seungcheol gets here.”

“Too late.”

Both of them turned to find Seungcheol coming down the aisle, a pleased look on his face. “I guess I should’ve expected just as much, especially with this being the romance section and all.”

“Trust me when I say this spot is less than romantic, hyung,” Jisoo commented.

Seungcheol laughed and held up a piece of paper. “Well, you guys definitely have something pretty romantic to me.”

Jeonghan grinned as Jisoo let go. Walking backwards, he said, “You’re a lot brighter than I thought, Seungcheol.”

“I’m gonna have to thank Jihoon later for not making these too hard,” he joked. “He knows I’m no detective.”

Jeonghan laughed and pulled out a frilly book titled _The Boy Next Door_. He pulled a slip of paper out from the top and handed it to Seungcheol. “Here you go, Sherlock.”

Seungcheol quickly opened the next note.

_“Wow baby, Jeonghan was wrong. You can figure this out ;)”_

Seungcheol glanced up to glare at the teasing Jeonghan before he finished reading.

_“Hint #3: Ya know what one of the hardest things to do is? Pick a freakin movie. I remember the first movie we saw together was here. You remember the theater, don’t you? Love, Jihoon.”_

With a sigh of relief, Seungcheol shoved the paper in his pocket and started to back away. “Thanks guys. Go back about your business.”

“Will do,” Jisoo laughed as they all waved. Once he was out of sight, Jisoo turned back to smile at his boyfriend. “Ya know, what Jihoon and Seungcheol have…”

“Yeah,” Jeonghan grinned as he glanced around them, “It’s the type of love people write about.”

— — —

“He does it all the time?” Wonwoo asked as he rested his feet on the seats in front of him. As the two were waiting and chatting, the empty theater proved to be very comfortable.

Minghao nodded and leaned back. “Mm hmm.”

Wonwoo tossed some popcorn in his mouth. “And none of your friends know about it?”

He reached over for the bucket. “Except Chan,” Minghao corrected.

“Wah,” the other exclaimed. “That’s pretty ballsy.”

Minghao scoffed and stuffed his face. “More like cowardly.”

Glancing over, Wonwoo asked, “Oh come on, that takes a lot. Confessing in front of a ton of people and always getting rejected. You gotta give Junhui some credit.”

“He’s been doing this for years,” Minghao explained. “If I gave him credit, I’d have to go out with him. It’s easier to just take it as a joke. Besides, I doubt he’s truly serious about all of this.”

Taking a sip of his soda, the other boy squinted at the black screen in front of them. “Ehh, I’m not too sure about that.”

“You think he’s serious? That all of his ridiculous confessions were real? That he actually loves me to the point where he just can’t hold it in anymore?” Minghao questioned, the sarcasm just oozing through his voice.

Wonwoo chuckled. “Look, you told me not to tell anyone, and I won’t, but you guys have been going through this charade for a while. If it really _were_ just a joke, he would have no problem doing it in a language you all could understand.”

Minghao thought it over a little. Wonwoo was the first person he’d ever actually talked to about this matter. He only chose to explain because Wonwoo had overheard Junhui calling him cute in Mandarin the other day. Minghao had never taken the matter seriously, but hearing someone else’s opinion was really...interesting.

But not insightful enough. Minghao rolled his eyes and ate some more. **“You’re delusional.”**

Wonwoo laughed and gripped the boy’s shoulder. **“I just know love when I see it. Don’t be afraid to give him a chance, Minghao.”**

With a sigh, Minghao shook his head. **“I’m not afraid. I just...can’t tell. What if the reason he does this is cause he’s embarrassed to want me? He’s too embarrassed to show our friends so he puts up this whole front.”**

 **“I HIGHLY doubt that,”** Wonwoo argued. **“If that were the case, he’d never ask you out in the first place.”**

But Minghao still wasn’t certain. **“Maybe.”**

Wonwoo could sense his former roommate’s confusion. With a weak grin, he was about to say something a little more comforting when…

“WONWOO! MINGHAO!”

The two of them immediately looked to the main aisle and found Seungcheol running towards them. Wonwoo laughed at his frantic friend and held up the bucket of popcorn. “Hyung! What took you so long?” he joked.

“Yeah!” Minghao added, gesturing towards the screen. “The movie’s about to start! It’s called ‘Jihoon Put Way More Effort in This Scavenger Hunt than Anything Else Ever’!”

Seungcheol smiled and shook his head. “Thanks, but I’ll catch the next showing.”

“Suit yourself,” Wonwoo replied, eating some more.

Leaning over one of the seats, he said, “But I would like to see the next clue, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure,” Minghao said. “But first…” he took the bucket from Wonwoo and held it in front of Seungcheol. “...have some popcorn.”

Raising an eyebrow, Seungcheol stared at both of them. “How’d Jihoon manage to get this whole theater, anyway?”

“Don’t ask questions, hyung,” Wonwoo asserted. “Just have some popcorn.”

“I don’t really want—”

“Just have some!” they both shouted, looking like they were ready to pounce on him.

Seungcheol jumped a bit before scowling. “Okay, okay. You guys are so weird together.” He reached in to take a handful, but felt something else instead, something plastic. He looked down and pulled out a ziploc bag hidden under the popcorn. Inside was a folded up piece of paper.

He gave a weak chuckle before looking back up at the others. “I get it now,” he jokingly said while wagging a finger at them.

Minghao laughed but Wonwoo just rolled his eyes. “You are so sad, hyung.”

Ignoring the insult, Seungcheol read what was inside.

_“Seungcheol-ah, you’re getting closer. Hint #4: Sometimes I think about that plan you and Seungkwan made to get me back. A plan that you totally failed at by the way ;) This was the place you said you came up with it. Love, Jihoon.”_

Seungcheol bit his lip. Every hint made his heart explode. He looked up and quickly nodded before running for the exit. “Thanks guys!” he called back.

“GOOD LUCK!” Minghao cried.

“BYE, HYUNG!” Wonwoo added.

They waited to hear the loud door close. When it did, Wonwoo chuckled. **“Those two have it pretty good.”**

**“Yeah, they really do.”**

Wonwoo softly elbowed Minghao in the ribs. Raising his eyebrow a few times, he said, **“You could have that too, ya know.”**

Minghao laughed. Without even thinking, he considered that for a second. But just for a second before he looked back at Wonwoo. **“You sound just like Junhui.”**

— — —

“I’M HERE! I’M HERE!” Hansol screamed as he screeched to a stop in front of Junhui.

Junhui hopped up from the bench and checked his phone. “It’s about time! Seungcheol’s on his way over! Where’ve you been?”

Hunched over, Hansol tried to catch his breath. “I...I got caught...up somewhere.”

Junhui squinted suspiciously at him. “Uh huh.” He watched his friend struggle to breathe evenly. When he finally stood up straight, Junhui noticed the crumbs on his face. With a smug smile, he crossed his arms. “You were with Seungkwan again weren’t you?”

Hansol plopped himself down on the bench. “And how would you know that?”

“You’ve never been the cleanest eater, Hansol,” Junhui laughed, pointing to the corner of his face.

Rapidly wiping it away, Hansol complained, “Aw crap.”

Junhui kept laughing as he put his arm around his friend’s shoulder. “Hansol, you don’t have to hide the fact you hang out with Seungkwan. We all know it.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, removing the last of the muffin residue. “It’s not like I’m hiding it. I just don’t have to always tell you.”

“That’s true,” Junhui agreed. “But I’ll always find out.”

Hansol finally managed to laugh before replying, “He’s a really cool guy and we really hit it off. Plus he’s like a genius. I ask him anything and he knows the answer.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t know some stuff,” he teased, trying to push Hansol’s buttons.

With a scoff, Hansol acted like he had been insulted. “Like what?”

“Like how you feel about him,” Junhui said, appropriately winking at his friend.

Hansol just stared at his friend before he sighed and looked away. “Well how’s he supposed to know that when even I don’t.”

“Oh come on, Hansol, if you like him, just come out and say it,” Junhui pushed.

But Hansol just laughed. “You’re one to talk!”

All of a sudden, both of them paused. Junhui’s eyes grew wide and Hansol gritted his teeth. Seungkwan told him to make sure no one knew he knew. That may just have blown his cover. But Junhui wanted the benefit of the doubt. Cautiously he asked, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

And cautiously Hansol answered, “I mean...you’ve never told any of us if you’ve liked anyone!” Trying to save his own back, Hansol kept going. “In all the years I’ve known you, hyung, you’ve never had feelings for someone! What have you ever had to come out and say?”

Junhui tried his best to hide his relief. So did Hansol. Still covering up, Junhui just laughed, “I don’t have to feel love to know you may be developing it.”

Getting back on the subject at hand, Hansol tilted his head back. “Maybe. I don’t know yet.”

Junhui smiled and patted his friend’s leg. “Just let me know when you do.”

Hansol was about to say some more when…

“JUNHUI! HANSOL!”

They both turned to find Seungcheol dashing towards them. Junhui quickly stood up and started applauding. “Bravo, Seungcheol!”

“Thank you, thank you,” the out-of-breath boy replied. “Damn, Jihoon’s got me running all over the city.”

“He wanted to make sure of that,” Hansol laughed. “He didn’t want it to be too easy.”

“Well, it wasn’t easy for you either,” Seungcheol pointed out. “I mean, Akkinda’s pretty far from here.”

“You saw me!” Hansol blurted out.

Seungcheol laughed and stood up. “Yeah, just a fair warning: hiding on the ground usually isn’t the best.”

While Hansol’s face turned a deep pink, Junhui couldn’t control his laughter. Clutching his stomach, he screamed, “Hansol-ah! You are so _not_ stealthy!”

Unamused, Hansol glared at both of them. “Just give him the hint.”

Still laughing, Junhui reached under the bench and pulled out a slip of paper. He handed it to the eager Seungcheol who immediately unfolded it.

_“Getting warmer, my dear! Hint #5: This was the place everything came back together. Remind me to thank Seokmin again for letting me in. Love, Jihoon.”_

Seungcheol didn’t even need to give it a second thought before running in the right direction. Waving his arm in the air, he called back, “THANKS GUYS!”

“KEEP IT UP, SEUNGCHEOL!” Junhui hollered.

Hansol, who was now back to his normal shade, stood up and watched the boy happily run away. “How hard do you think it is to find what they have?”

Junhui grinned and looked back at him. “Probably really hard. It’s not just hiding on the floor.” He choked on the last few words because of his laughing.

Hansol just glared at him again as his friend lost control. “Shut up.”

— — —

“Alright Chan!” Soonyoung yelled as he shut his eyes. “Time us again!”

Chan chuckled and held up his phone. “Okay...go!”

Immediately, Soonyoung and Seokmin shot their eyes open and stared at the other opposite them. Sitting criss cross on the couch, they had their knees touching as they tried their best not to blink. But after four rounds, it proved to be way too much. Seokmin cracked and shut his eyes in a huge smile. “AGH!” he cried laughing. “No, we can’t do that again!”

With no point of going on, Soonyoung joined him. “Chan, how long was that?”

“Like 12 seconds,” Chan disclosed, an amused smile on his face. He was always happy to accompany these two, even though he wasn’t the biggest fan of being the third wheel.

“Come on!” Soonyoung exclaimed, slapping Seokmin on the thigh. “You can’t give in so easily!”

“I’m sorry!” Seokmin happily argued. He leaned over and clutched Soonyoung’s face in his hands. “It’s just I can’t stare into those eyes for too long. I’m scared I’ll get sucked in.”

Blushing a little, Soonyoung tapped their foreheads together. “I’d like it if that happened.”

Seokmin laughed and leaned closer. “Maybe one day,” he whispered before leaning in to close the small gap.

The two of them held their kiss for less than half of their staring time before Chan broke it up. “OOOKKKKAAAAYYYY!” he hollered as he pulled their shoulders away from each other.

Startled and embarrassed, Soonyoung looked over to his friend. “Chan—”

“No, no, don’t you ‘Chan’ me,” he said, shaking his head and standing up. “If you don’t want me telling the others about this yet, then you have to keep the PDA to a minimum.”

Seokmin laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “What PDA? We’re not in public.”

“Fine,” Chan said. “We’ll call it...DAFC.” Seokmin and Soonyoung looked at him confused before he sighed. “Displays of Affection in Front of Chan.”

“Ohhh,” they both uttered.

Soonyoung laughed and gestured for his friend to sit next to him. “Okay, we’ll keep that to a minimum.”

“We promise Chan. Just, please don’t tell anyone just yet,” Seokmin added.

Chan found out about this relationship not too long after it developed. Obviously he was overjoyed to see the two of them so happy, but they didn’t want to go public yet. With the friend groups becoming so intertwined, they feared what their relationship may do to the dynamic, especially if it didn’t work out. So, again, Chan was the only one who knew.

“I know, I know,” Chan reassured them, coming over to sit down. “You guys are so happy, though. I wish you’d tell the others already. I hate keeping everyone’s secrets.”

The other two paused. Soonyoung squinted and leaned in closer to him. “Who else’s secrets are you keeping?”

Now, any of the others would have been freaking out just about now, but Chan was horribly used to it. Without flinching, he shrugged. “No one’s. I just hate keeping them.”

Soonyoung glanced over at Seokmin, who also felt suspicious, but before either one of them could question him more…

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Chan shot up and went to the door. “I’ll get it!” Opening the door, he smiled to find who was obviously on the other side.

“The...stupid...elevator still...isn’t...working,” Seungcheol panted as Chan helped him inside, shutting the door behind.

Seokmin laughed at his friend. “Yeah, sorry about that. You must’ve been running all day.”

Seungcheol rapidly nodded. Breathing heavily, he smiled. “But...it’s...worth it.”

The others all beamed at him as he sat down. Seokmin went to get him some water. After he chugged it down, he wiped his mouth and finally asked, “Alright. Where is it?”

Soonyoung tilted his head. “Where do you think it would be?”

Seungcheol paused. He looked around the apartment he briefly lived in before remembering which bedroom he stayed in. He jumped to his feet and hastily ran into Seokmin’s room. The three chuckled as they watched him fumble from exhaustion.

In the room, not much had changed except for the fact Seokmin’s things were back where they were supposed to be. He turned to the bed and lifted up the pillow. He smiled, pleased that he was right. He read this one even more eagerly.

_“I thought this was the cutest spot to hide something XD Alright, last hint my love! Hint #6: To be honest, I wanted to do 17 hints because...well, you know why. But we don’t have 17 friends. So, I’m just gonna have to settle for the last location to deal with 17. This was where we first talked, shortly after we first met. There’s furniture now, but I still really like this spot. Love, Jihoon.”_

With a giant smile, Seungcheol held onto the last note and walked out of the room. “Last one. Thanks you three.”

Soonyoung and Seokmin beamed at him, just feeding off his energy. Chan nodded and gestured towards the door. “Go get him.”

Seungcheol ruffled the boy’s hair and speedily left the place where he and Jihoon had officially gotten together.

Seokmin turned to smile at his boyfriend. Taking his hand, he softly asked, “You think we’ll ever get there? Where they are?”

Filled with so much for the boy in front of him, Soonyoung grinned and leaned in. “I think we can.”

Seokmin flashed a huge smile before the two of them kissed again, enjoying the start of their own journey.

But Chan wasn’t exactly in their same state of euphoria. Grabbing the nearest pillow, he chucked it at their faces. “NO!” he shrieked. “DAFC! DAFC!”

— — —

Seungcheol sprinted down the hallway and skidded to a stop in front of his apartment door. He immediately gripped the doorknob, but didn’t turn it. For a moment, he just froze.

Standing there, all of a sudden he got really nervous. His heart was beating faster than it had all day. His palms were sweaty, and not just from the running. He felt fireworks explode in his head as thoughts of Jihoon just flooded him. All day, he couldn't wait to hold that boy, to kiss him and smother him with all the love he deserved. Now the moment was right behind that door. He just had to be ready to open it.

With one last second of hesitation, Seungcheol’s smile came back and he flung the door wide open. What he found in front of him made him stop all over again.

Jihoon gave his boyfriend a huge smile, so big it forced his eyes into those little half moons. “Congrats baby,” he laughed spreading out his arms. “You found me.”

Seungcheol didn't move. In the middle of the room, Jihoon was standing there in the cleanest tuxedo. He was surrounded by rose petals scattered along the floor. It was like the scene out of your typical romance movie, but to Seungcheol those cute details were just side decorations. He was more mesmerized by the pink haired boy’s face. That smile was so perfect, and his cheeks looked so gentle. He was glowing with pure joy. Seungcheol had never seen a more beautiful sight.

He stared for about a minute. Jihoon, who was also captivated by Seungcheol’s disheveled appearance, chuckled a little. He'd been waiting all day for this. “Baby?”

Then all of a sudden, Seungcheol bolted towards Jihoon, hardly slowing down when they embraced. “WOAH!!” Jihoon screamed. On impact, Seungcheol squeezed Jihoon tight, but the two of them still came crashing to the ground.

Jihoon couldn't stop laughing through the pain. He gripped his back and looked up at Seungcheol on top of him. “Ow! Seungcheol-ah, you’re so—”

But he didn’t get to finish. Seungcheol muffled his words and buried his boyfriend in a long awaited kiss. And Jihoon didn’t object. He wrapped his arms around Seungcheol and let himself fall a little further. Seungcheol couldn’t believe how emotional this was. He had just kissed Jihoon that morning, but for some reason it was even much more now.

After some time, Seungcheol finally unlocked his lips to smile down at the boy. His clean hair was now a little ruffled, but it looked even better. Seungcheol said, “You...made me run all over the place today.”

Jihoon chuckled and stroked the other’s cheek. “I wanted you to work a little.”

Seungcheol smiled even harder before pecking the boy on the forehead and rolling off of him. He sat up and helped Jihoon. “You're amazing, you know that?”

“You always remind me,” Jihoon gently replied, straightening out his blazer. For a moment, they just dreamily stared into the other’s eyes. “Happy anniversary, Seungcheol-ah.”

Seungcheol laughed and took the boy’s hand. “Happy anniversary.”

“I hope you liked your present,” Jihoon said. “I was really worried someone would screw it up.”

“It was awesome, dear!” Seungcheol exclaimed. “I seriously can’t believe you put this all together. Have you been home all day?”

Jihoon nodded. “Yeah, after you got the first hint, Mingyu helped me out. Wonwoo told me you’d be heading to their place for some reason today.”

Seungcheol’s eyes grew wide as he remembered earlier that day. “Right!” he shouted as he jumped to his feet.

Startled, Jihoon asked, “Why? What’s wrong?”

Seungcheol smiled. “Nothing,” he replied before letting go of his hand. “Just give me a second. I’ll be right back.”

Jihoon didn’t even get to say anything before he watched his boyfriend run out the front door. Amused by his dorky ways, Jihoon chuckled and proceeded to miss him while he was gone.

— — —

“What do you wanna do for dinner?” Mingyu asked from the couch.

“I don’t know,” Wonwoo replied, coming over to join him. “We could go where Jihoon and Seungcheol are going and spy on them,” he joked.

Mingyu laughed. “Wouldn’t that be a pleasant surprise.” He watched his boyfriend sit down and scroll through his phone. How was he so good looking? Unable to resist, Mingyu leaned over and laid his head down on Wonwoo’s thigh so he could marvel up at him.

Wonwoo looked down and chuckled. “Hello there.”

Mingyu smiled. He proceeded to close his eyes and cross his arms, making himself comfortable. “When are we gonna celebrate our anniversary?”

Wonwoo paused and moved some of the hair off his boyfriend's forehead. “What do you mean? Shouldn’t our 100 days be soon?”

Mingyu shrugged. “Do we celebrate that anniversary? Or do we celebrate our original one?”

Wonwoo looked up to think about it. “Well if we celebrate the old one, we should just do it yearly, right? So that’d be in a few months.”

“Then what about the two we missed?”

Wonwoo thought of the years they lost together and sighed. “I guess we just ignore them.”

Sensing his boyfriend's uneasiness, Mingyu opened his eyes. “Or…” Wonwoo looked down. “...we could celebrate those too.”

Wonwoo looked at him questioningly. “How would we do that?”

“I don't know,” Mingyu replied, thinking things through. “How many months until our old anniversary?”

“Five.”

“Five months,” he said. “Okay! So in two months, we’ll celebrate one each month. And each will be bigger than the last. We’ll have two months to plan it all.”

Wonwoo chuckled, happy with his boyfriend’s effort. “Aww, that sounds like a lot of trouble. We don’t have to, baby.”

“Hey! They’re my missing anniversaries too ya know! It won’t be any trouble! We'll plan together. Wonwoo-ah, it’d be so much fun. And we’d make up for lost time,” Mingyu enthusiastically explained. “Come on, baby. We really have something to celebrate.”

Wonwoo took a second to just stare at that goofy smile. He finally submitted. Leaning down, he placed their foreheads together. “Okay. Let’s do that.”

“Yes!” Too excited, Mingyu gripped Wonwoo from the back of the neck and lifted himself enough to meet the boy’s lips. Upon release, he fell back onto his leg. A satisfied smile, he said, “It's gonna be great, baby. I promise.”

Rolling his eyes, Wonwoo lightly smacked the boy’s stomach. “You’re a loser.”

“Submitted.”

Wonwoo laughed and was about to say more when there was a knock at the door.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Shoving Mingyu’s head away, Wonwoo got up. “I’ll get it.”

“Ow!” Mingyu complained. With a chuckle, he rubbed his neck and sat up. “You’re so gentle.”

Wonwoo smiled and opened the door. “Oh, hey hyung. You know the last hint was for—”

“Yeah, I know that!” Seungcheol exclaimed, making his way past his friend. “I need to get Jihoon’s present!”

Mingyu laughed. “It’s still in my desk drawer.”

“Thanks!” Seungcheol quickly went into the bedroom to get what he was looking for. He came out holding a small white box with a red bow on top. “Thank you, boys. But if you’ll excuse me.”

The other two nodded and watched him walk out. As he went back into his apartment, they caught a glimpse of all the rose petals.

Wonwoo closed the door and went to sit back down. “Should we do something as big as Jihoon?”

Mingyu laughed. “Baby, this is only their 100th day. We have YEARS. Trust me, it’ll be even bigger.”

With a smile, Wonwoo kissed the boy on the cheek. “Can’t wait.”

— — —

“GOT IT!” Seungcheol shouted as he flew past the door, letting it shut behind him.

Jihoon was still sitting on the floor in his fancy clothes. It was an oddly adorable sight. He looked up and laughed. “What is it?”

Seungcheol came and returned to his seat next to him. He placed the box in Jihoon’s hands. “Open it.”

Jihoon hesitated before undoing the ribbon and slipping off the lid. He stopped when he found what was inside. “Oh my god…,” he laughed.

Seungcheol blushed. “I know it’s not as grand as your gift—”

“No! Baby!” Jihoon slowly took out the keychain. “Is that me?!”

Seungcheol nodded. He pointed to the other one. “And that’s me.”

Jihoon couldn’t wipe away his smile if he tried. He held up the keyring that held three key chains. One of them was a cartoony guy with pink hair and blushy cheeks in a sweater and jeans. Another was a taller cartoony guy with dark hair and a dorky smile in a comfy T-shirt. “Seungcheol, where did you get these?”

He chuckled. “I got them custom made a week ago. Look at how cute you are!”

Jihoon smiled at his character. “Pretty freakin cute.”

Seungcheol grinned and reached for the last keychain. “Look at this one.”

The last one was in the shape of a heart. There was something engraved on it. “To the pretty boy across the hall,” he read as his heart raced.

“This way you’ll never forget your key again,” Seungcheol teased, overjoyed by Jihoon’s reaction.

But then he saw something he hadn’t seen for a long time: Jihoon started to tear up.

“JIHOON-AH!” Seungcheol exclaimed in shock. He immediately threw his arms around his boyfriend and held on tight. “BABY! ARE YOU OKAY?”

Jihoon sniffled and managed to laugh a little. He wiped away some of his happy tears and smiled up at the boy he loved so much. This was the first time he was experiencing tears of joy. Words couldn't describe how good it felt to be in that moment. “Yeah,” he softly replied. “I’m okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading my fic! This was actually the last chapter of the whole thing and the next one is just an extra chapter I did later for fun XD I posted this here on ao3 after it being on tumblr and asianfanfics for a while just cause I wanted to share it in other places too :D These characters have such a special place in my heart and I love these boys so much irl. They deserve the world. I really hope you liked my and again thanks for stopping by <3


	27. Chan's Struggles (Extra Chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BOLD means they're speaking Chinese :D

“UGGGHHH!”

Landing face first on his bed, Chan’s limp body bounced a little before resting there in his discomfort.

Sitting on his own bed, Junhui chuckled. There was nothing funnier than seeing his roommate come home after a long day of studying. But Junhui knew Chan was working even harder this time around. “You alright?” he would always ask.

And the response was always the same.

“UGGGGHHHH!” he screamed into his pillow, shimmying his shoulders deeper into the mattress. After a few seconds, he calmed down and rolled onto his back. Staring at the ceiling, he complained, “I hate everything.”

“That’s not very positive is it?” Junhui teased.

It wasn’t, but Chan always gave himself a few minutes in the day to just let everything go. Usually, he was his positive self, always supportive, always trying his best to look for the light at the end of the tunnel. But the past week had been hitting him pretty hard. It was finals week at school and this was actually the first time Chan got to lay in his bed for a few days now.

“I’m tired, hyung,” he admitted as he crawled under his covers. Swiftly kicking off his pants, he threw them onto his desk. “I just want to nap.”

“Well you might have to do that somewhere else.”

Chan stuffed his face into the covers and was already falling asleep. “What?”

_Knock. Knock._

Chan didn’t even bother lifting his head. “Who’s that?”

“I was trying to tell you,” he said as he stood up. “It’s Minghao.”

“Minghao?” he asked, gaining some interest. Still he didn’t move. “Just Minghao?”

Junhui walked over to their bedroom door and stood over him. “Uhhh, yeah,” he replied anxiously. “We’re actually...gonna talk.”

Immediately, Chan shot up, his eyes wide. “What?!”

“SHH!” Junhu hushed him, pushing him back down. “Keep it down!”

“Hyung!” he hollered in a whisper. “You guys are talking about this?!”

Junhui sighed and tried to contain his nervousness. “Yeah. Since you’ve been out of the house lately, he’s been coming over by himself. We started talking about it, but I think tonight he’s gonna give me an answer.”

A huge smile washed over his face, Chan could hardly contain himself. If only his tired body didn’t weigh him down. “Hyung!”

_Knock. Knock._

“SHH!” he hushed again. “Yeah! It’s a big deal. So I was gonna actually ask you if you could go somewhere else.”

Chan’s expression dropped, his shoulders slumped. “Junhui, I am _so_ tired.”

Feeling bad, Junhui nodded. “I know! But I’ve been waiting for this day for literally years!”

“What are you talking about?! You could’ve had this talk all week and the one day I try to rest you tell me I have to go?!”

_Knock. Knock._

“Chan, please!”

“Jun, I’m sorry,” he replied as he threw his blanket over his head. “Any other day I would, but I am just so dead. Just pretend like I’m not even here.”

“But—”

“You never cared that I heard your love story before,” Chan interjected with a groan, getting comfortable again. “Don’t start now.”

Junhui watched his young friend drift off. He submitted. “Fine. Just don’t say anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Without any further hesitation, Junhui rushed through the living room to get the door. Seeing Minghao made him smile instantly. “Sorry that took so long.”

Minghao returned the happy grin. “It was almost like you forgot me.”

“I could never do that.”

Anyone else would’ve been in a blushing frenzy from hearing that, but Minghao was too used to it. Instead he just nodded and walked in. “Of course.”

Junhui didn’t really know what to say next, but it had been a long time getting here. “You hungry? Do you wanna order a pizza or something?”

“Umm, I’m okay,” he said as he sat down on the couch. He looked up and smiled at the boy he wasn’t sure how he felt about. “I think we can just talk.”

Junhui smiled, happy that for the first time in the history of ever Minghao was being the assertive one. He eagerly joined him on the couch. “Okay, let’s talk.”

Minghao sighed and fell back into the couch cushion. Weirdly, his chest started pounding a lot faster. He had no idea what was going on, but it was making him really nervous. “Okay,” he said back.

Seeing that Minghao didn’t have more to add just yet, Junhui decided to step in and help the process. “Minghao,” he said, making the boy turn to face him. “I know I keep saying this, but you’re gonna have to believe me one day.”

“What?” Minghao asked, confused.

 **“You’re really cute,”** he said with a pleased smile.

For some reason, this time made Minghao blush. He immediately looked away and bit his lower lip. “You’ve gotta stop doing that,” he said.

“What?” Junhui laughed, leaning over and placing his hand on Minghao’s knee. “I can’t help but tell you the truth.”

“Yeah, only in a way where nobody else knows,” Minghao pointed out.

“Minghao…”

“You realize that’s where the problem is right?” Minghao blurted. “I honestly can’t tell if you’re serious or not cause you act like that.”

“Minghao…,” Junhui tried to cut in again, scooching closer to him.

“No, honestly, Jun,” Minghao said, feeling his brain just rattle in his skull. “Do you seriously want to be with me or is this all just to mess with my head?” he asked directly. It was a question that was always on his mind.

“Minghao…” He got even closer.

“Because you’re doing a really good job,” Minghao said, ignoring Junhui’s attempts to stop him and simply going off. “Messing with my head that is. I probably think about this a lot more than I should.”

“Minghao…”

Still, Minghao kept talking. “Seriously, I think about you a lot and it’s not on purpose. It’s a lot of me just wondering if you mean everything or not. Cause if you don’t, then that’s just really mean.”

“Minghao!” Junhui finally exclaimed, getting the boy’s full attention. For a moment, the two of them just stared into each other’s eyes. There was an intensity neither could describe. Neither of them had ever felt their heart race like that before. But Junhui decided to cut the tension with a smile. “I love you,” he said plainly.

Out of all the times he’d heard it, Minghao considered that to be the first time it seemed genuine. Maybe because it was in a language he knew others would be able to interpret. Grinning back subtly, he asked, “Are you sure?”

Laughing a bit, Junhui reached out and held Minghao’s hand. It was something he’d been waiting to do for years. “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

In his head, Minghao could only think of how nice Junhui’s hand felt in his. But then he remembered how sweaty his palms must’ve been. Embarrassed, he pulled away. “Thanks,” he said quickly turning to the other side.

Finding Minghao’s flustered behavior incredibly cute, Junhui leaned over to meet his eyes again. “You’re really cute,” he said in Korean. Looking into Minghao’s nervous eyes, he wanted to reassure him of everything he’d always felt. “And I really mean it when say I want us to be together.”

“Then why’ve you been hiding it from the rest of our friends?” Minghao couldn’t help but ask. Turning back, he now realized how close Junhui was to him. Weirdly, he didn’t move away. He didn’t need space. He just wanted answers. “Why do you act like it’s a joke?”

With a sigh, Junhui thought about that a lot too. He shrugged. “Maybe cause that’s the only way I know how,” he reasoned.

Surprised, Minghao had never thought of it that way.

“Maybe...you just make me so nervous...that I’m scared you’ll turn me down in front of everybody,” he said gently.

Minghao had never seen this side of Junhui before, so vulnerable but in a way that wasn’t just to be tossed aside. He wanted to listen. “I always turned you down though.”

“But no one knew.” Leaning back into the couch, Junhui glanced over at him. Their gazes locked, he said, “I thought you’d just reject me again if I let them know. And if that happened, then I’d be heartbroken.”

Finally understanding the works of what was going on, Minghao put it all together. “So you let me tell you no over and over again...because you were scared to hear me _actually_ say no?”

Slowly nodding, Junhui had to say that was pretty much right. “Just that way...at least the door was never closed. I could always try again if only we knew. And at least this way, you got a sense of how I felt.”

“Just I didn’t realize they were your true feelings,” Minghao said with regret. His heart was beating so fast, he didn’t know what to do.

“I guess it wasn’t the best way to go about it,” Junhui admitted. Waiting for Minghao’s reply, he added, “But now you know for sure.”

Minghao nodded. Taking in a deep breath, he let it all out. “Yeah.”

There was a long pause where neither of them said anything. Junhui was dying to find out what Minghao would say to his true confession, while Minghao was trying to figure that out too. Each with their own reason to be nervous, they couldn’t find words for what was next.

Getting too anxious, Junhui had to break the silence.

“I love you, Minghao. And I will tell everybody in this world that I want to be with you...because I just can’t imagine being with someone more amazing.”

Minghao let that soak in one last time. Closing his eyes, he just breathed softly.

Unsure if that came off as passionately as he needed, Junhui started to say it again. “I love yo—”

But the rest didn’t leave his mouth.

Swiftly and suddenly, Minghao leaned in and pressed his lips to Junhui, stopping him from saying what they both already knew.

Shocked and exploding with new sensations, Junhui’s eyes were wide open as he stared at the boy kissing him for the first time. Sweat started pouring out of his forehead and he couldn’t feel his arms. But as soon as he realized what was happening, he closed his eyes and held Minghao’s face, as if sending his love through his fingertips to his cheeks.

It wasn’t the longest kiss, but both of them felt frozen in time. When their lips parted, their foreheads were still together. Slowly opening their eyes, they shared a warming gaze. Junhui had been waiting for this moment for far too long. And Minghao knew he’d be enjoying it for much longer.

“I think...I think I love you too,” Minghao said through his smile.

Over the moon, Junhui thought his cheeks were going to fall off right there. Smiling bigger than ever before, he couldn’t help but tease the boy he loved so much. “You think?” he asked jokingly, playfully raising an eyebrow.

Laughing, Minghao shoved the boy away. “Don’t give me that! You’ve known for years! I’ve known for two minutes!”

Grabbing Minghao’s face, Junhui dove in for another kiss. Leaving a peck on his lips, he smiled and said, “You are so worth waiting all of those years.”

Thrilled with what they had, Minghao laughed and was ready to say more to his new love when he heard something behind him. Twisting around, he saw the bedroom door open and someone come out.

“Chan?!” he hollered in shock.

Still in his boxers, Chan walked through the apartment. Rubbing his eyes, he said, “You guys sure are loud.”

With his jaw hanging open, Minghao twisted over to find Junhui groaning and hiding his face in his hand. “Chan, you said you’d pretend to not be here.”

“Sorry, but you were right,” he said, as he slipped into his shoes. “I’m gonna go.” Opening the front door, he smiled and waved up a hand. “Congratulations to the both of you.”

The two of them could tell he was really tired, but they appreciated the effort. “Thanks, Chan,” Minghao chuckled, still terribly surprised.

With one last nod, the boy shut the door and was on his way.

Embarrassed beyond belief, Junhui was blushing all over. “I...am so sorry about that.”

“You tell me so many things and you couldn’t tell me Chan was here,” Minghao teased, shoving his shoulder.

Reaching out to take Minghao’s hand, he replied, “Hey, you wanted our friends to know.” Leaning in closer, he smiled. “Now our friends really know.”

With a huge grin, Minghao closed the gap between them and kissed him right back.

But just as the two of them were about to enjoy their alone time a little more, the front door reopened.

Unlocking their lips, Minghao and Junhui looked over to find Chan coming back into the apartment. Walking silently, Chan didn’t make eye contact. They watched as he disappeared into the room and came back out two seconds later. Only one thing was different as he headed back towards the door.

“I forgot my pants.”

— — —

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

“I’ll get it!” Seungkwan shouted as he stood up and ran to the door. In the process, he slightly tapped the coffee table he and the others were sitting around.

“Careful!” Jeonghan laughed, keeping the block of towers steady. “I don’t want to lose like this!”

Seungkwan turned the doorknob as he called back. “Sorry!” Turning to face forward, he smiled at who was in front of him. “Chan?! What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be studying?”

Tired written all over him, Chan gently smiled. Nodding, he said, “I’m gonna take a break tonight. Is it okay if I come over and just...nap?”

“Of course!” Seungkwan told his younger friend as he stepped aside and let him in.

“Thanks,” Chan said through a yawn.

Joshua, Hansol, and Jeonghan looked over and saw Chan come in. “Hey Chan!” they all greeted in a harmony of voices.

Chan waved as he took off his shoes. “Hey guys.”

Seungkwan went to sit back down next to Hansol on the ground. “Why do you have to come over here to nap?” he asked.

“Not that we’re not happy to see you,” Jisoo added. He smiled and said, “You’ve been studying so hard, it feels like forever since we’ve seen you.”

Chan made his way over and flopped onto the couch. “Yeah,” he said through a breath, already closing his eyes. “Junhui’s a little...busy right now. I just needed somewhere quieter.”

“Well, we’re glad you came here,” Hansol told him. “This way you can see Seungkwan and Jeonghan lose in Jenga.”

Nuzzling into the sofa, Chan started drifting off. “That sounds fun.”

But Seungkwan was all riled up. “What makes you think we’re gonna lose, Vernon?!”

It was Hansol’s turn to take out a block, but he still managed to tease Seungkwan some more. “You’re so shaky!” As he spoke, he very carefully pulled out a block from the center of the already unstable tower. “You’re nowhere near as steady as I am!”

With a scoff, Seungkwan rolled his eyes. “You think you’re so great!” he fired back.

“Not so great,” Hansol corrected as he placed the block up top. “Just better than you.”

As this was going on, Jeonghan and Jisoo exchanged knowing looks. The two of them had been at each other’s throats all night, even when they were on the same team. It was an endless array of smack talk, and both Jeonghan and Jisoo knew better than anyone that that was how they flirted. They also liked how Seungkwan called Hansol “Vernon.” It was filled with affection. They felt like they were at game night with another couple, and it was pretty adorable.

“I have to agree with Hansol, Seungkwannie,” Jisoo chuckled. He watched as Seungkwan uneasily pushed out another block. It was a miracle the whole stack didn’t collapse at his touch. “You’re not the most steady.”

Before Seungkwan could argue, Jeonghan came to his defense. “You’re one to talk! You’re way shakier!”

“What’re you talking about?!” Jisoo laughed, getting ready for his turn. “I have the hands of a surgeon.”

Hansol nodded and put his hand on Seungkwan’s thigh, a gesture he’d done just whenever they were in an intense conversation. It always made Seungkwan’s insides warm up and his heart race, but he somehow liked it. “Hands of a surgeon,” he repeated.

Jeonghan rolled his eyes as he watched his boyfriend use his thumb and index finger to slowly take out a side block. “Yeah right,” he said. With an evil smile, he leaned over and put his lips right next to his boyfriend’s ear, close enough so he was barely grazing his skin. He then let out a quivering breath and it was all over from there.

Overwhelmed by Jeonghan’s incredible sensualness, Jisoo melted. His hand as well as his whole body shook, making the entire Jenga tower crumble and fall. Ashamed at how easily he could be toyed with, he dropped his hand onto the table. “Dang it,” he said under his breath.

Immediately, Seungkwan and Jeonghan jumped to their feet. “YES!” they both exclaimed, holding each other’s hands and jumping up and down.

Hansol shot up in protest. “That’s not fair! You cheated!” he yelled back.

“What? The surgeon just couldn’t stay steady,” Jeonghan teased as he smiled down at his boyfriend. “Right, sweetie?”

Unable to contain his smile, Jisoo just shook his head. “That happens every time.”

Completely satisfied, Jeonghan laughed and bent back down to look the cute boy in the eyes. Holding him by the chin, he smiled back at him. “That’s how I know you still love me.”

Both happily beaming at each other, they closed the gap and shared a kiss.

Unable to share those same emotions, Hansol turned to Seungkwan and yelled, “You know that doesn’t count!”

Seungkwan put his hands up in defense. Looking Hansol in the eyes, he couldn’t help but want to be closer. “Maybe you should just stop losing,” he teased.

Hansol rolled his eyes and put his hands on his hips. “Maybe I should just admit that I love you and see if we can get a win back like Jeonghan did,” he joked, half dying on the inside, wondering what Seungkwan’s response would be. A ballsy statement like that only started to become natural to him. Before he met Seungkwan, he’d never be so bold or even joke in such a bold way. It was weird. Seungkwan brought it out of him.

And usually Seungkwan would be able to respond with the most eloquent and lengthy monologue that Shakespeare could muster, like he did in almost all of his arguments, but Hansol always stole his words. He wasn’t his outspoken self when he was with Hansol. It was weird. Hansol just did that to him. Without a response, Seungkwan just stared back at him. “Uhhh…”

Jeonghan and Jisoo sat on the ground, leaning onto each other and watching this beautiful scene. Jisoo leaned over and whispered, “Who do you think is gonna finally just ask the other guy out?”

Jeonghan tilted his head and pursed his lips. Leaning back, he whispered, “Whoever wants to do what I just did to you more.”

They both giggled as the other two continued to stand and stare. Finally, Seungkwan managed to say, “Your breath smells terrible! Why would I let you do that to me?!”

“My breath doesn’t smell bad!” Hansol shouted back through his laughter, loving it when Seungkwan could get back at him. Coming closer, he breathed more heavily. “HAAH! Here! Smell! It’s not bad! HAAAH!”

Seungkwan quickly back peddled away as Hansol got closer, his mouth open and that breathy noise projecting from his mouth. “EWWW! NO STOP! I DON’T WANT TO SMELL!” he yelled, sticking out his arms to keep the boy away. But in the process, he couldn’t hold back his smile.

Laughing along, Hansol kept doing it. Grabbing Seungkwan’s extended arms, Hansol was dragged around the room as Seungkwan tried to run away. “COME ON! HAAAH! SMELL!”

Jeonghan and Jisoo watched the two of them laugh and run around the room. They couldn’t help but feel their cuteness. “Honestly, Seungkwan, Hansol’s breath isn’t that bad!” Jisoo laughed.

“I bet yours is even worse!” Jeonghan teased as the two ran circles around the room.

“I DON’T WANT TO FIND OUT!”

As they ran around, Hansol could feel his feelings for Seungkwan get stronger. As he chased the boy around, he couldn’t help but want to catch him. As for Seungkwan, he didn’t mind being caught. Still, running away was just more fun, for all of them.

But as everyone was laughing and just having a blast, they forgot that there was somebody there who wasn’t trying to have so much fun. Slowly, Chan sat up and the commotion stopped. Surprised, all of them truly forgot that he was there. “Chan! We’re so sorry!” Jeonghan said as he watched the boy stand up.

Softly smiling, Chan batted his hand in the air. He was half asleep so he wasn’t certain who he was looking at. “It’s fine. You guys have fun.” Quietly he made his way to the door.

“Chan! We’re sorry! We’ll keep it down!” Seungkwan called after him. “You can stay!”

But already halfway out of the apartment, Chan sleepily replied, “Don’t worry about me. You’ve got bigger things to worry about…,” he said as he yawned. Shutting the door behind him, he finished saying, “...like Hansol’s breath.”

And with Chan gone and Seungkwan at a stand still, Hansol took that as his cue. Leaping forward, he smiled and hugged Seungkwan around his arms. “But my breath doesn’t smell bad!” Hansol shouted. “See! HAAAH!”

Jeonghan and Jisoo were in a fit of laughter as Seungkwan screamed and tried to plug his nose. “OH MY GOD, VERNON!”

— — —

“How’d you know the others would be out of the apartment?” Seokmin asked with a smile as he watched his boyfriend finish preparing their meal from across the counter.

Soonyoung chuckled and wiped his hands on his apron. “Minghao said he was going to Junhui’s. I guess they have to talk about something. And Hansol’s over at Seungkwan’s with Jeonghan and Jisoo,” he replied. Turning off the stove, he looked over his shoulder and smiled at the boy who so easily stole his heart. “I think they’re playing Jenga.”

“Ahh,” Seokmin said with a nod. “You know Jisoo’s really good at that game.”

“Oh really?”

Seokmin stuck his hand out and held it flat. “He has the hands of a surgeon.”

With a big smile, Soonyoung reached out and took Seokmin’s hand. “You have the hands of an angel.”

They’d been going out in secret for a few months now, but Seokmin still always blushed when his boyfriend did anything remotely cheesey. “Is our food ready yet?” Seokmin asked, trying to change the subject before he melted completely.

Satisfied with Seokmin’s rosey cheeks, Soonyoung let go and finished setting up their plates. “Yeah, it’s done.” With a proud smile, he twisted around to reveal his creation. “TAH DAH!”

“WOW!” Seokmin immediately exclaimed. His eyes lit up as he looked from the spaghetti to the beaming chef. “It looks great baby!”

“Thank you. Thank you,” Soonyoung laughed as he nodded and came around the counter. Seokmin followed him to the dining table. He watched as Soonyoung gently placed the plate in front of him. “Dinner is served!”

Seokmin laughed as his boyfriend took his seat. “All this time and you didn’t tell me you could cook,” he said, impressed by the surprise.

Soonyoung nervously rubbed the back of his neck. This was the first time he cooked for Seokmin. He wanted it to be special. “It’s just spaghetti,” he said, trying to play it down. “It’s not too hard to make.”

Seokmin picked up and his fork and lowered his head to start eating. “Trust me. Seungcheol or someone would’ve burned the sauce. This is impressive,” he said before taking a bite. Getting a nice mouthful, Seokmin’s eyes grew to double their size as his taste buds exploded. He stared at the anticipating Soonyoung as he sat up straight. Chewing thoroughly, he swallowed and exclaimed, “This is amazing!”

Blushing, Soonyoung started eating his own plate. He tried to hide how happy he was that Seokmin liked it, but it was obviously showing. “It’s not that great.”

“No, baby!” Seokmin shouted, conviction seeping through his voice. “This is _really_ good!”

Laughing at just how amazed Seokmin was, Soonyoung replied, “Thank you! I’m glad you like it! Now focus on eating before you choke on something!”

Seokmin chuckled and took another bite, feeling his eyes roll to the back of his head. “Oh my god, Soonyoung. What can’t you do?”

Embarrassed, Soonyoung finished chewing and said, “I’m sorry we can’t do this more often. We never get a place to ourselves. Either Seungkwan’s home at your place or Minghao or Hansol are here.”

Seokmin nodded, using his napkin to wipe some sauce from his face. “I know. It’s just hard with us sneaking around.” Thinking for a second, he suggested, “We could go to Chan’s places.”

Soonyoung nearly choked on his water. Chuckling, he replied, “What about Junhui? Besides, we can’t make poor Chan deal with us all the time just because he’s the only one that knows.”

“You’re right,” Seokmin admitted. The two of them continued to eat as he thought it over. Finally, Seokmin suggested something they’d been thinking about for a while. “Why don’t we tell the others?”

Soonyoung paused. “We said we wouldn’t cause it might mess up the group. Everyone’s so connected now,” he explained, going over what they’d already discussed at the beginning of their relationship. “What if we break up?”

“Yeah, but that was two months ago,” Seokmin pointed out. “We thought we were being responsible to our friends when we started all of this, but now…” Seokmin reached out his hand and held onto Soonyoung’s. From across the table, he smiled and looked into his boyfriend’s eyes. “...I want the world to know about us.”

Feeling his heart beat faster and faster, Soonyoung was overwhelmed with this happy feeling. But at the same time, he had to focus. “Sweetie, if we tell them, there’s no going back. It’s only been two months. If something happens—”

“Nothing’s going to happen,” Seokmin interrupted him, a giant smile on his face.

Charmed by Seokmin’s level of commitment, he was still hesitant. “Baby, I’ve been having so much fun with you and this is so great, I just…” His voice trailed off as he tried to think of the right words to explain. He was enjoying their secrecy and part of him didn’t want to leave their bubble with just the two of them.

But he didn’t have to say it. Seokmin knew what he was feeling. That’s what months of commitment does to people; lets them understand each other. “Soonyoung,” Seokmin said gently.

Soonyoung lifted his head and looked into Seokmin’s loving eyes. “Yeah?”

Squeezing his hand a little tighter, Seokmin told his boyfriend, “I have had the best two months with you, but I know they weren’t just because we were keeping this a secret. I had fun because _you_ are amazing, and I want all of our friends to know just how amazing I find you. We don’t have to worry about messing anything up because...even if that happened while we kept this a secret, they’d find out because I would be _so_ devastated.” He grinned at the boy who was slowly starting to agree and said, “You make me happy. Our friends should be able to know that.”

Feeling goosebumps run over his skin, Soonyoung couldn’t believe he was so lucky to have this boy in his life. Thinking about it, it baffled him that all of this, them meeting, their friends becoming friends, everyone living where they did now, all of this was because Jihoon forgot his key one day.

With a big smile, Soonyoung chuckled. “Okay,” he finally agreed. “Let’s tell them.”

Even happier, Seokmin leaned in. “Really?!”

“Yeah, yeah!” Soonyoung said. Laughing, he shrugged. “Why not?”

“Aghh, baby!” Seokmin shouted. Unable to contain himself, he leaned over the table and pulled the boy up by the collar to meet him in a kiss. They were too busy exploding in affection that neither of them minded the taste of spaghetti. Pulling away, Seokmin smiled at Soonyoung and whispered, “You are wonderful.”

Soonyoung beamed back at him and lightly brushed his cheek. “You’re way more wonderful.”

With a chuckle, Seokmin leaned back to sit back down, but in the process he accidentally smacked the fork in Sooyoung’s bowl, making some sauce come splattering out and onto his boyfriend’s white shirt. “Oh damn!” Soonyoung exclaimed, jumping to his feet out of surprise.

Just as caught off guard, Seokmin hopped up. “Oh my god, baby! I’m so sorry!”

Reaching for his napkin, Soonyoung laughed and started wiping it off, but Seokmin was already by his side to help. “It’s okay,” he chuckled.

But Seokmin tried to wipe it off and pouted. “No, baby, it’s leaving a stain.” Looking up at Soonyoung, he sadly said, “I’m so sorry.”

But all Soonyoung could do was focus on how adorable he was. “You’re so cute!” He grabbed the boy’s face and leaned down to kiss him.

“But you’re shirt,” Seokmin said between their lips, still feeling bad.

Soonyoung smiled and looked back at the orange stain. “It’s a reminder of the first meal I made you.”

Pleased with the boy’s ability to turn anything cute, Seokmin smiled even bigger. Holding him in his arms and slightly swaying back and forth, he teased, “Soon, that’s kind of gross.”

Soonyoung laughed harder and stepped out of Seokmin’s embrace. “I should probably change out of this.” And before Seokmin could say anything else, Soonyoung pulled off the shirt over his shoulders, revealing everything that was underneath.

A bit mesmerized, Seokmin caught Soonyoung’s hand before he could head to the bedroom and put something else on. “Ya know, you look really good like this,” he said, obviously awestruck by his half-naked boyfriend.

Amused, Soonyoung just rolled his eyes. He was about to reply when…

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Both of them looked at each other and Seokmin asked, “Are you expecting anyone?”

Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows and went to the door. “I don’t think so.” But he didn’t question it and just opened the door. He was surprised by who he found on the other side. “Chan?”

Tired and ready to collapse, Chan looked cloudy and his eyes were half shut. His shoulders slumped and he could barely blink. But even in this condition, he could clearly see topless Soonyoung with Seokmin standing in the background. Unphased, Chan sighed and turned to leave back down the hall. “Never mind.”

Confused, Soonyoung didn’t know what was going on until he glanced down and remembered he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He looked back and found Seokmin just as bewildered and connected what Chan must’ve thought. Embarrassed and frazzled, Soonyoung leaned out the door and called out, “CHAN! IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!”

But still, Chan kept walking away. Throwing his hand up, he didn’t bother to look back. “Never mind!”

— — —

_knock. knock. knock._

Chan didn’t have to wait very long for the door of apartment 917B to open.

“Chan?” Mingyu uttered when he found the tired boy on the other side. “What’re you doing here? Shouldn’t you be studying?”

Unamused, Chan tried his best to smile, but it was becoming harder. Trying to keep his eyes open, he managed to say, “No. I should be sleeping.”

With a soft chuckle, Mingyu asked, “Then why aren’t you in bed?”

Chan sighed and kept in the urge to roll his eyes. “Can I nap here?”

Still confused by his younger friend’s surprise appearance, Mingyu stepped aside and gestured for him to come in. “Go right ahead.”

Chan nodded and stepped inside to find Wonwoo in front of an easel. “Hey Chan!” he greeted him. “You need a nap?”

Chan weakly waved back and said, “Desperately.”

Wonwoo chuckled and pointed towards the couch with his paintbrush. “You might want to sleep out here. The room’s filled with paint fumes. Mingyu’s got a lot of stuff drying.”

Taking a deeper whiff of the air, Chan coughed slightly. “It’s worse than out here?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Wonwoo said apologetically. He looked around until he found the mask he kept nearby just in case the smell got too bad. “Here,” he said, holding it out to him. “Wear this. It should help.”

Slowly putting it on, Chan blinked a few times before falling face first onto the couch. “Thanks,” he said, muffled by the mask and the pillow.

Shaking his head, Mingyu laughed and headed back to his own easel. Wiping his hands on his smock before picking his paints back up, he asked, “You okay there, buddy?”

But Chan didn’t respond. Wonwoo laughed and said, “He must be really wiped.”

“He’s been studying so hard,” Mingyu commented as he tried to refocus on his painting. Sticking his tongue out of the corner of his mouth, he visualized all of the elements to this image.

Watching his concentration, Wonwoo couldn’t help but chuckle. “Babe, we’re painting a bowl of fruit. Do you really need to make that face?”

Mingyu dropped his head and twisted to face his giggling boyfriend. Letting his attention fall to the bowl of fruit between them, he said, “This is my focused face.”

“I know,” Wonwoo teased. “You also make that face when you put paste on the toothbrush.”

Mingyu scoffed and went back to his painting. “You’ll just see when mine’s a lot better than yours.”

“Wow, you think so little of me,” Wonwoo said, a smirk crawling to his lips. He loved watching his boyfriend paint, and teasing him was just as fun.

Mingyu smiled. He loved it when Wonwoo wanted to paint with him, but his teasing was one of the best parts. “No, you’re better than me at a lot of things,” Mingyu admitted. “But I am by far the superior painter.”

“Just because you go to a fancy art school doesn’t make you better than me at this,”

Mingyu laughed and raised an eyebrow at him. “But that’s exactly what it does. Just like how you going to a fancy university makes you smarter than me.” Gently dragging his brush across the canvas, he tried to get the right texture. His boyfriend was the good kind of distraction that made work simpler somehow. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Wonwoo smiled and continued painting his own piece. Deciding the teasing could continue later, he changed the subject. “Ya know,” he said, trying to hook Mingyu’s attention. “We haven’t talked about our big anniversary celebration.”

“No we haven’t,” Mingyu agreed, not taking his eyes off his painting.

“The anniversary that’s supposed to make up for the ones that we missed,” Wonwoo pointed out, trying to get Mingyu to think about it a little more.

But Mingyu could see where his boyfriend was going with this. He put his paintbrush down and placed his hand on his hip. He smirked and said, “You’re scared I forgot about it, aren’t you?”

With a shrug, Wonwoo couldn’t deny the allegation. “I don’t know!” he laughed. “It’s been a while and you made it sound really promising!”

“Wahh,” Mingyu uttered through his breath, rolling his head before looking back at Wonwoo. “You have such little faith in me that you thought I had nothing planned!”

Wonwoo stuck his arms out and exclaimed, “I thought we were gonna plan it together! I was just asking!” But he had to admit, that was nice to hear. Knowing that Mingyu had plans made him warm all over. But now, he had something else on his mind. Leaning in, he put on a big smile. “Can I ask what those plans are?”

No matter what this boy did, Mingyu found him adorable. Shaking his head, he didn’t give in. “It’s gonna be a surprise.”

“What?! You’re seriously not gonna tell me?!”

“Of course not!” Mingyu laughed. Trying to give this apple the right shape, he said, “I wanna see your face when the time comes.”

“What if I don’t like it?” Wonwoo asked, just trying to get Mingyu to cough it up. Even early on in their relationship, Mingyu was always the one surprising Wonwoo. There was never something he didn’t like.

Calling his bluff, Mingyu replied, “Then you’re a horrible person.”

“WOW!”

“WELL YOU WOULD BE!” Mingyu laughed.

Smiling back at him, Wonwoo said, “You have a lot of confidence in this present.”

“Trust me,” Mingyu said. “You’ll like it. Hopefully it’ll make up for how _I_ was a horrible person.”

That struck a core with Wonwoo. He pouted and said, “Aww, Mingyu, you know I don’t hold anything against—”

But Mingyu interrupted, “I was referring to me insulting your painting skills.”

Rolling his eyes, Wonwoo sighed. “You are such an idiot,” he said under a laugh as he fixed up his painting.

“Yet, here we are.”

Wonwoo smiled. “Here we are.”

Silently painting, both of them just enjoyed the other’s presence. Sometimes words didn’t need to be exchanged to express their love. Comfortable silence could do that too.

Finishing up his painting, Wonwoo took one last careful look at it before smiling with satisfaction. “Okay,” he announced. “I’m done!”

Mingyu furrowed his eyebrows and got in a few more strokes. “Already?”

Wonwoo rolled his eyes. “Babe, it’s been hours.”

“Has it really?!” he exclaimed putting his supplies down. Wiping his hands, he turned over to smile at Wonwoo. “Time just flies by with you, doesn’t it?”

Wonwoo just couldn’t with this boy sometimes. “Stop being an idiot and come look at it!”

Mingyu laughed and went over to see Wonwoo’s proud masterpiece, but the second he saw it, an even bigger smile came to his face. “Hey!” he exclaimed. “That’s not a bowl of fruit!”

Wonwoo laughed and put his arm around his boyfriend as they both admired it. “No it’s not, stupid.”

Mingyu was at a lost for words. “Baby, you were doing this the whole time?”

“You’re not the only one who can surprise people,” Wonwoo teased him. He looked up to see Mingyu’s glowing face. “Do you like it?”

“Do I like it?!” he exclaimed. He reached out and pulled the canvas down from the easel so he was holding it between his hands. “It’s a door!”

Wonwoo laughed. “It’s not just any door!”

Mingyu couldn’t contain himself. He looked down at Wonwoo and exclaimed, “It’s our door!”

Over the past few hours, Wonwoo had been working on his own version of Mingyu’s infamous painting. His wasn’t as detailed or as nice, but Mingyu loved it even more. “917B,” he read.

Wonwoo leaned up and kissed his boyfriend on the cheek. “Happy almost anniversary, baby.”

Surprised beyond belief, Mingyu didn’t know how to express his love. “Baby!” He put the painting back on the easel and turned to pick up his boyfriend.

Not expecting that, Wonwoo laughed hysterically. “HEY! WHAT’RE YOU DOING! WE’RE COVERED IN PAINT!”

Mingyu laughed with him and buried his face in the boy’s neck. “YOU ARE SO AMAZING!” Kissing him all over, he said, “I love you so much!”

Wonwoo was all laughs when Mingyu finally put him down. They looked into each other’s eyes and Wonwoo lifted his hands to hold his boyfriend’s grinning face. “I love you too.”

Over the moon, the kissed and neither of them even cared that they were probably getting paint all over there clothes. All that mattered was they had each other. Nothing else mattered.

But that couldn’t be said for the other person in the room.

When the two of them finally unlocked from their kiss, they smiled at each other before realizing Chan was walking by the kitchen. Still holding each other, they turned in his direction. “Chan, where are you going?” Wonwoo asked.

“Sleep,” he grumbled under his breath, talking to no one in particular. “Sleep. All I want is sleep.”

“What’d you say?” Mingyu asked as they watched zombie Chan head for the door.

“Sleep,” Chan said a little louder. “I. Will. Find. Sleep.”

And before the other two had a chance to say anything else, Chan closed the door behind him and was gone.

Wonwoo felt bad and looked back at Mingyu. “Were we being too loud?”

But Mingyu couldn’t even feel guilty. He was way too in love with Wonwoo for that. Smiling down at him, he replied, “Now we can be even louder.”

Wonwoo scoffed and rolled his eyes. “You’re an idiot.”

— — —

“Are we eating leftovers again?” Jihoon asked as he checked what was in the fridge.

Seungcheol came up behind him and wrapped him in his arms. After kissing the top of his head, he got lost in his boyfriend’s gorgeous pink hair. He replied, “We can. Or I can cook you something. Or we can go out.”

Even after going out with this boy for a while now, Jihoon couldn’t contain his blush. Wiggling out of the boy’s embrace, he turned to face him and said, “If you’re gonna hold me, can you not keep me captive in the fridge?”

Smiling at his adorable boyfriend, he held him around the waist. “Why’s that?”

Jihoon couldn’t help it. He pulled Seungcheol down by the collar and kissed him on the lips. They lingered there for a moment before Jihoon released and whispered into his lips, “It’s fucking freezing.”

Seungcheol laughed and let the boy go. Jihoon closed the fridge and the two of them found their way to the couch. “So what should we do for the next few hours?” he asked as he laid down.

Jihoon comfortably found a way to lay right on top of him. The two of them had grown so accustomed to the other that no matter how they were, the other fit perfectly. “We can watch a movie,” he suggested.

“Do you have something in mind?” Seungcheol really didn’t care what they did, as long as Jihoon could be like this. Having his boyfriend this close was all he ever wanted.

“Mmmm,” Jihoon thought about it. Laying his cheek on Seungcheol’s chest he liked listening to his heart beat. Closing his eyes, he couldn’t be more comfortable. “I guess we can just do this.”

Seungcheol laughed and hugged the boy tighter. “I like this a lot.”

Jihoon smiled and looked into Seungcheol’s eyes. “How was your day today, love?” he asked, getting ready to just have an easy conversation with the boy he loved.

“My day was good,” Seungcheol responded, glad that they were a couple who could so easily be together and just talk. “I went to study with Jeonghan and Jisoo, which was fun but Jeonghan’s not that great at biology. I should’ve asked Junhui, he was really helpful the other day.”

“Yeah, Jun’s really good at bio,” Jihoon commented.

Seungcheol smiled and went on. “Then I went to Akkinda and talked to Seungkwan for a bit. Guess who was there with him.”

Jihoon scoffed and mockingly said, “Vernon.”

With a laugh, Seungcheol held the boy tighter. He found Jihoon’s hands and he wrapped his own around them. “Yep. Those two are inseparable now. It’s been months. I can’t believe they’re not dating already.”

“Maybe they’re just friends,” Jihoon suggested.

“You know what ‘just friends’ looks like, and that’s not them,” Seungcheol chuckled. “I’ve never seen Seungkwan so easily shut down.”

Jihoon nodded and scooched up so he could more easily see Seungcheol’s face. “Yeah, you’re right. Hansol never used to be that outgoing, at least not the way he is around Seungkwan. It’s kind of weird seeing him like that.”

“Same,” Seungcheol said, placing his forehead against his boyfriend’s. Still recounting his day, he said, “After that, I came home and got to be with you.” Kissing the boy’s nose, he smiled. “I think that’s the best part.”

Turning pink, Jihoon couldn’t meet the boy’s gaze. “Still very cheesy, dear.”

“You like cheese,” Seungcheol giggled, kissing the boy some more on his cheek.

Incredibly ticklish, Jihoon tried to pull back from all of the soft brushes on his face. Laughing, he rolled off of Seungcheol’s body and deeper into the couch. Now lying side by side, Jihoon said, “Cheese is very good.”

They both beamed at each other, playing with one another’s hands, until Seungcheol asked, “How was your day?”

“It wasn’t bad,” Jihoon admitted, getting lost in Seungcheol’s eyes. “I had class with Soonyoung in the afternoon so that was nice.”

“Did Seokmin come?” Seungcheol asked.

Jihoon furrowed his eyebrows. “Yeah, he did. How’d you know?”

“Seungkwan told me Seokmin wasn’t home in the afternoon, so I guessed he was with Soonyoung,” Seungcheol reasoned. “Those two are really close now.”

Nodding along, Jihoon recounted being in lecture with both of them. “Remember when Soonyoung had a thing for Seokmin?” he chuckled.

Seungcheol laughed too, “Yeah, and you made me promise not to tell anyone.”

“Well, it would’ve been weird now that they’re good friends.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, playing with the hair on Jihoon’s forehead. “Do you think those two will stay just friends?”

Thinking it over, he thought of how easily they talked to each other and how they were always happy to hang out together. But still, it seemed different than with Hansol and Seungkwan. Neither of them were flirting or acting different from their normal selves. “I think they will. Some people really are just friends.”

Jihoon nodded. “I think you’re right,” he said as he reached up and gently rubbed Seungcheol’s cheek, getting the appropriate smile. “So after that, we met up with Junhui and Minghao and had lunch. We went to that restaurant kind of far from campus. We walked past it once and I said I wanted to try it.”

“Oh,” Seungcheol said, trying to remember. “Mansae?”

“No, that’s a coffee shop,” he corrected him. “They give free muffins on Tuesdays.”

“Oh yeah, Hansol’s always talking about that,” Seungcheol chuckled.

Jihoon smiled and continued, “Well yeah, it’s called Aju Nice. It was good! We should go sometime.”

“Yeah we should,” Seungcheol said, ready to go anywhere with this boy. “What else did you do today?”

“I tried to get in touch with Chan and see if he wanted to join us, but I guess he’s really busy studying,” Jihoon said. “I hope he’s doing okay. He’s been working so hard.”

“I bet he’s gonna ace all of his finals.”

“Well, yeah,” Jihoon laughed, getting even closer to his boyfriend. Wrapping his arms around, he was now the one hugging Seungcheol. “That’s what studying gets you.”

Seungcheol always loved it when Jihoon got a little more assertive when they were together. Letting out a happy sigh, Seungcheol nuzzled his nose into Jihoon’s soft hair. “I love you,” he said gently.

Jihoon felt his body tingle as he looked up and kissed the bottom of Seungcheol’s chin. “I love you too.”

“I wasn’t lying when I said this was my favorite part of the day,” Seungcheol told him. “And I mean every day.”

“Awww, mine too,” Jihoon cooed. “You’re my favorite person dear.”

“Awww!” Seungcheol couldn’t help but exclaim, now throwing his arms around Jihoon again and squeezing him even tighter. “You are so cute!”

Laughing, Jihoon could never handle how much he loved this boy. “Oh! Another thing that happened today!” Jihoon suddenly remembered. Pulling back a little, he could see Seungcheol’s face again. “Seokmin forgot his key.”

Laughing harder than anybody else would, Seungcheol was struck by a familiar story of forgotten keys. “Really?!”

Jihoon laughed with him. “I know! I couldn’t stop making fun of him for it!”

“What happened then? Did he still try to go home? Was Seungkwan around?” he asked curiously.

Jihoon shook his head. “No, he just went to hang out at Soonyoung’s place.”

“Huh,” Seungcheol said, thinking about what that could mean. Recalling all of the instances he and Jihoon had forgotten their keys, he knew what that meant. “Maybe they will be more than friends.”

Jihoon laughed, “Who knows.”

Seungcheol smiled at his boyfriend as he raised an eyebrow. “Do _you_ forget your key anymore?” he asked jokingly, already knowing the answer.

Jihoon scoffed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out his keyring that not only had his key, but a keychain with three parts. One of them was him in chibi form. Another was Seungcheol in chibi form. The last was a heart that had the words he’d always keep dear. Beaming at his boyfriend, he replied, “How could I ever forget?”

Seungcheol leaned in and pecked him on the lips. Lost in his love for this boy, he whispered, “I’m glad you became my pretty boy across the hall.”

Blushing like crazy, Jihoon smiled. “I’m glad you became mine.”

For a little while, the two of them just laid there, kissing each other and holding on to the one they loved. It was so comfortable and so warm and just so amazing for both of them, that neither wanted to break the silence. Finally, when they were just holding each other’s hands and being their happy selves, the silence was broken by Jihoon’s stomach grumbling so incredibly loud.

Seungcheol opened his eyes and chuckled. “Are you hungry?”

Jihoon looked up at him and admitted, “Yeah, pretty hungry. Do you want me to warm up the leftovers?”

Seungcheol slowly sat up, sad that they couldn’t keep cuddling but knowing that they would do it again later. “Let’s go out and eat,” he suggested.

Jihoon groaned and sat up too. “But what is money,” he said in defeat, his head hanging low. “College life is sucking away all of my funds.”

Seungcheol chuckled. Jihoon never failed to bring the doom and gloom from time to time. “I’m getting a job next semester. Don’t worry too much about it. Tonight’s on me,” he said, reassuringly as he tilted Jihoon’s head up.

“I don’t want you to spend too much money either!” Jihoon told him.

“Don’t worry! We’ll eat left overs tomorrow,” he laughed, turning his legs and standing up. He held out his hand to help Jihoon up. “Come on. I wanna treat you tonight.”

Jihoon smiled, his heart beating like crazy. No matter how long he and Seungcheol were together, it didn’t matter. Jihoon’s heart would never stop racing. This boy would never stop making him feel this way. “What’s so special about tonight?” he asked as he took the boy’s hand and got up on his feet.

“Tonight we’re celebrating…,” he said as he leaned down to kiss Jihoon one last time on the head. He smiled and met the boy’s gaze. “...how you didn’t forget your key.”

Jihoon laughed and shook his head. Heading for the bedroom, he said, “I think that’s a pretty valid reason.”

“Of course it is!” Seungcheol called after him. He laughed and reached for his jacket that was laying on the arm of the couch. Putting it on, he said, “Hey, don’t forget your jacket!”

Jihoon scoffed. “Wouldn’t dream of it!”

Feeling happy all over, Seungcheol was about to say more when…

_knock…knock…knock…_

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “Dear, are you expecting anybody?”

“Uhh, no,” Jihoon said from the room. “Can you get it?”

“Sure,” he replied as he quickly jogged to the door. Not bothering to check who it was, he opened it and was surprised to find who was on the other side. With the same reaction that everyone had pretty much had all night, Seungcheol uttered, “Chan?”

Feeling his knees give out more and more every second he stood there, Chan felt lifeless. His face was grey and his eyes were drooping. If he were an anime character, he would have little squiggly lines coming from his head. Too tired to even pull a smile at this point, Chan grumbled, “Please...please tell me…” But his voice got so low, Seungcheol couldn’t hear it.

“Chan, are you alright?” Seungcheol asked, now getting concerned for the half-dead looking boy at their door.

Before Chan could even attempt to respond, Jihoon came up from behind. “Did you say it’s Chan?” But he got an answer for himself. Immediately, Jihoon’s eyes grew wide at what he was looking at. “Woah, Chan! What happened?”

But Chan was on the verge of falling over. “Please...tell me you guys…aren’t cheering...or playing Jenga...or making out...or painting…” He tried to look into their eyes. “Please.”

“Uhhh,” Seungcheol said as he shared the same concern Jihoon did. “No, we’re not. Actually we’re just about to go eat.”

And as if those words gave him more energy, Chan stood up a little taller. He knew he had finally come to the right place. His eyes shining a little brighter, he asked, “Can I please come in and sleep here?”

Jihoon and Seungcheol exchanged confused glances. “Uhh, yeah of course. Whatever you need, buddy,” Seungcheol said as he opened the door wider.

With his new found energy, Chan darted in and immediately took off his shoes. “Thank you. Thank you,” he rapidly said.

“You can just sleep on the…,” Jihoon began to say as he pointed to the couch, but Chan was already running into the bedroom. “Oh, okay. That works too,” he said, still surprised at what was going on.

Without anymore hesitation, Chan threw himself onto the bed and didn’t think about anything else. For the first time tonight, he had found a place he could actually sleep and he couldn’t have been more grateful. Clutching the pillow like it was a gift from the gods, Chan said, one last time before he was completely knocked out, “Thank you.”

Jihoon and Seungcheol came into the doorway and couldn’t help but chuckle at the sleeping Chan. “I didn’t realize his studies were doing _this_ to him,” Jihoon whispered.

“Let’s let him sleep,” Seungcheol said, reaching over and turning off the lights to the room. As he closed the door, he could still hear Chan’s gentle snoring. “We’ll be out for longer.”

Jihoon smiled. “Any excuse I have to do that is a good one.”

Seungcheol flashed a huge smile as he took his boyfriend’s hand. The two of them quietly snuck out the front door and locked it behind them. Walking down the hallway together, Jihoon looked up at Seungcheol and said, “I hope he can sleep ok here.”

Seungcheol smiled as they swung their hands back and forth. “I hope so, too,” he said. “After all, you can hear really well through these doors.”

Jihoon immediately burst into laughter as he let go and put his arm around Seungcheol’s waist. He couldn’t imagine being anywhere that would make him happier. Pulling them closer together, he smiled and said, “I don’t think that’ll ever be a problem again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading <3


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